It's little more than a funky new poster at the moment, but the website for The Wicker Tree, Robin Hardy's "spiritual sequel" to 1974's The Wicker Man, has just gone live, confirming a release date sometime in 2010.
This is the film that used to be Cowboys For Christ. Not sure about that new title although it's obviously less Texas-baiting than its predecessor (the title of Hardy's novel on which the film is based) and makes the connection to Lord Summerisle and co. more obvious. Double-edged sword though, running the risk of non-savvy mallrats immediately writing it off as something to do with "that retarded Nicolas Cage movie".
Hardy's first film for 24 years is, if the novel is an indicator, a close parallel to The Wicker Man, rather than a sequel per se. Each character from 1974 has an equivalent and the plot structure is similar, but the details this time involve an evangelical Texan country singer and her boyfriend attempting to introduce religion to the small Scottish town of Tressock.
Cast-wise, Christopher Lee (who describes The Wicker Tree as "erotic, romantic, comic and horrific enough to loosen the bowels of a bronze statue") is joined by Graham McTavish, Clive Russell, Brittania Nicol and Honeysuckle Weeks. Shooting took place last year in Texas and Scotland, and Hardy showed ten minutes at a screening of The Wicker Man in Tribeca last Hallowe'en. It's been a long time coming, but it's actually happening!