Christopher Lee and Sean Astin Re-Team For May Day

The Herald reported the following:

THE makers of the cult horror film The Wicker Man are to return to Scotland to make an �11m film that will again explore the conflicts between the modern world and pagan worship.

May Day, which has been written by Robin Hardy, the director of The Wicker Man, will feature Christopher Lee, who starred in the 1973 cult classic. Veteran actress Vanessa Redgrave also will star.

Hardy, who will direct the film, said that May Day was not a sequel or a prequel to The Wicker Man but it explores the same themes and will be shot almost entirely in Scotland, with some scenes shot in Texas. Filming will start next year.

The project initially went under the name of The Riding of the Laddie and Hardy has recruited Sean Astin who is to play the leading role of an American preacher.

Astin, who starred in the children's film The Goonies, has been on the big screen again playing the Hobbit Sam in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

It has been rumoured for some time that Hardy was working on a new film, but he told The Herald that he had great trouble finding money to back the script, which has attracted interest from a number of leading actors.

May Day will be made by his own Eurocentre Productions and British Lion, who produced The Wicker Man.

Hardy is now approaching Scottish Screen, the film agency, for aid in making the film in and around the Glasgow area.

Hardy spoke the day before about 7000 people are expected to turn up for the Wicker Man festival, a two-day event staged this weekend in 60 acres of farmland in Dundrennan, Kirkcudbright.

"May Day is in the same genre as the Wicker Man, and the plan is to start shooting in Scotland early next year," he said.

"It is not a sequel or a prequel, but there are similarities - it is a very scary film and the pagan revival is part of the plot. Actors love the script and I am sure Scottish Screen will be able to help us make it." The plot concerns a young religious American couple travelling in Scotland who come into contact with proponents of a "pagan revival" in the countryside.

Lee, who has recently played the evil wizard Saruman in the three Lord of the Rings films, is to play a character "very similar" to his Lord Summerisle character in The Wicker Man.

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