{"id":26568,"date":"2026-08-03T22:43:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T17:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=26568"},"modified":"2026-08-03T22:43:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T17:43:26","slug":"wicker-man-sequel-director-justin-hardy-dies-weeks-before-premiere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=26568","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Wicker Man\u2019 sequel director Justin Hardy dies weeks before premiere"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The\u00a0<em>Wicker Man\u00a0<\/em>sequel director Justin Hardy \u2013 son of the original <em>Wicker Man <\/em>director Robin \u2013 has died weeks before the film\u2019s premiere.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cvgwj0wnyydo\">BBC<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>reports that the filmmaker and writer died aged 61 due to a heart attack on Friday. Hardy\u2019s family said they were \u201cdevastated\u201d to share the news in a statement, describing him as \u201cso full of life right to the end, and incredibly energised to be working towards premiering his latest film this month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are all so proud of him and heartbroken he won\u2019t be with us at his premiere,\u201d the statement continues. \u201cHe was a man of family, of boundless creativity and of devotion for everyone he held dear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hardy\u2019s\u00a0<em>Wrath Of The Gods\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 the second sequel to\u00a0<em>The Wicker Man\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 is scheduled to <a href=\"https:\/\/frightfest.co.uk\/LondoN2026\/wrath-of-the-gods.html\">premiere<\/a> at horror film festival FrightFest on 28 August in London. He also directed the first sequel, 2011\u2019s\u00a0<em>The Wicker Tree<\/em>. See tributes to Hardy down below:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We&#8217;re deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Justin Hardy whose latest film, Wrath of the Gods is playing at Tubi FrightFest this August. Justin is best known for his documentary celebrating the legacy of his father Robin Hardy&#8217;s iconic work. Our heartfelt condolences to his\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1XXmARxTda\">pic.twitter.com\/1XXmARxTda<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 FrightFest (@FrightFest) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FrightFest\/status\/2084203728085684288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We\u2019re  shocked and saddened by news of the unexpected passing of Justin Hardy at the age of 61. Director of A FEAST AT MIDNIGHT as well as co-director of CHILDREN OF THE WICKER MAN and co-author of the book of the same  name, <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6OXixyzAqq\">pic.twitter.com\/6OXixyzAqq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Severin Films (@SeverinFilms) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SeverinFilms\/status\/2083958995237339177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">When I was 17 I had my first job as an extra on City of Vice, directed by Justin. Lovely bloke. It was only years later I learnt he was son of Robin Hardy when I was watching a Wicker Man documentary. Rest in Power Justin. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uUaZu77lN4\">https:\/\/t.co\/uUaZu77lN4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Daniel Cause (@Daniel_Cause) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Daniel_Cause\/status\/2084211324154708238?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This morning we pay <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/tribute?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#tribute<\/a> to co-author of Children of The Wicker Man, Justin Hardy, who sadly passed away on Friday. A &#8220;larger-than-life presence&#8221;, son of iconic director Robin Hardy and a filmmaker in his own right. Details here \ud83d\udc47<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5aAaNzqLYU\">https:\/\/t.co\/5aAaNzqLYU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The History Press (@TheHistoryPress) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheHistoryPress\/status\/2084212932653588549?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Born in London on October 30, 1964, Hardy has primarily directed historical films and documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4 and CNN. With nearly 50 credits, Hardy was best known for the Emmy-nominated\u00a0<em>The Last Dragon<\/em>, the Bafta-nominated <em>The Relief of Belsen, <\/em>along with other films such as\u00a0<em>City of Vice\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<em>Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Alongside the\u00a0<em>Wicker Man\u00a0<\/em>sequels, Hardy and half-brother Dominic created the documentary <em>Children of the Wicker Man.\u00a0<\/em>The film tracks the brothers\u2019 journey as they discover their father\u2019s lost archive, which contained the concept behind\u00a0<em>Wrath Of The Gods<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Wrath Of The Gods\u00a0<\/em>has been dedicated to Justin\u2019s mother Caroline, whom the archive revealed to be an uncredited executive producer on <em>The Wicker Man<\/em>. She passed away aged 51 in 1984.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script>\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n  fbq('consent', 'revoke');\n  fbq('init', '370979561341328');\n  fbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0Wicker Man\u00a0sequel director Justin Hardy \u2013 son of the original Wicker Man director Robin \u2013 has died weeks before the film\u2019s premiere. The\u00a0BBC\u00a0reports that the filmmaker and writer died aged 61 due to a heart attack on Friday. Hardy\u2019s family said they were \u201cdevastated\u201d to share the news in a statement, describing him as \u201cso&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Justin-Hardy-2026.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}