You’d think ‘the powers that be’ would have learnt their lesson back in 2006 when Neil LaBute’s ill-advised remake crashed and burned at the box office, but here we are again! Though that colossal misfire has admittedly gone on to gain a small cult following of its own thanks solely to the sensationally deranged central performance by Nicolas Cage (“Not the bees! NOT THE BEES!”), one thing was made clearly evident – some movies should simply remain untouched. Even the director of the original Robin Hardy himself felt the ire of fans when he tried to cash in with his “spiritual sequel” The Wicker Tree in 2011. Rightly so. It was rubbish.

If you can get behind the idea of revisiting The Wicker Man once more, then we already have a small bit of promising news in that the wonderful Andy Serkis is involved via his production company The Imaginarium, who will be developing the remake. Can you picture the actor being able to resist bagging one of the two iconic roles (Sgt. Neil Howie or Lord Summerisle) for himself? Neither can we, and we’re certainly open to either. Also interesting is that this version will actually be a TV series, allowing for a much deeper exploration of Summerilse’s shady shenanigans.

Misfits fans will be delighted to learn that the beloved British show’s creator Howard Overman is overseeing The Wicker Man. Overman has gone on to amass some serious writing credentials on such genre-winners as Merlin, Atlantis, Future Man, and most recently War of the Worlds, which has just finished its third season on Epix (and is coming October 19th to Disney+ in the UK). All signs point to the project being in pretty safe hands at this point.

Little is known as to the approach Overman is taking with the story, but the quotes given to Deadline (who broke the news) describe the series as “bold, shocking, and unique” (we should bloody hope so!), that will “explore the same themes of sacrifice, superstition, and ritual that were at [The Wicker Man’s] core”. It’s also been confirmed that the action will take place in present day, rather than revisit the ‘70s setting.

We’ll have more on The Wicker Man as it develops. In the meantime, join us around the Maypole as we pay tribute to the King of the Harvest in hope that he gifts a bountiful new TV show with which to nourish us!