Will “Riding the Laddie.” a literal remake of “The Wicker Man?
The director and producer of the 1973 horror picture “The Wicker Man” are distancing themselves from a remake in development at Universal Pictures. Hoping to capitalize on the original picture’s huge cult following, director Robin Hardy and producer Peter Snell have reteamed with “Wicker” star Christopher Lee to develop another horror picture, “Riding the Laddie.” Hardy says Vanessa Redgrave and Sean Astin have committed to the project, about two American evangelists who fall into the wrong hands when they travel to Glasgow to preach door-to-door. The original “Wicker” concerns a Scottish policeman who travels to a remote Scottish island whose inhabitants practice bizarre fertility rites. Universal, which owns the title, is remaking “Wicker” with writer/director Neil LaBute (“Nurse Betty”), and will set it in the United States. Contrary to reports that “Laddie” is a literal remake of “Wicker Man,” Hardy said the two pictures are “quite different.” His new picture, like “Wicker,” will b
