The Wicker Man Trilogy Is Finally Complete After Six Sacks Turn Up in an Attic

UPDATE — Aug. 23, 2026: More than half a century after The Wicker Man reached theaters, director Robin Hardy's planned trilogy is finally complete—and the last chapter began with six sacks of family papers discovered in an attic.

Wrath of the Gods, made by Hardy's sons Justin and Dominic, will have its world premiere Friday at London's FrightFest horror festival. The BBC published new details Sunday about how the film grew from the recovered archive and what the premiere now means to the family.

The archive nearly went the way of the original wicker man

Dominic Hardy said the new owner of Justin's former family home found six sacks containing letters, scripts and other material connected to their father and the 1973 film. Justin's first impulse was to burn them, Dominic told the BBC, but the brothers eventually opened the archive.

Inside was a script for the proposed third film and material explaining Robin Hardy's original idea: a theme park around an extinct Icelandic volcano where angry Norse gods create mayhem. Justin and Dominic developed their own story from that foundation and moved the setting to Shetland.

This may be the most productive attic clean-out since somebody found an unopened Atari in its original box.

Shetland supplied the landscape and much of the cast

Filming began in Shetland in spring 2025. Francis Magee and Christiane Schaldemose play the leads, while many other roles went to local performers.

The story follows a grieving widow who returns to the island of Hel to bury her husband after his suicide. The community treats her as a symbol of evil and bad luck, and the island's history comes under scrutiny when children begin disappearing.

The film completes the trilogy Robin Hardy envisioned. The original Wicker Man arrived in 1973, and The Wicker Tree followed in 2011. Robin Hardy died in 2016 at 86 before making the final installment himself.

The premiere will also honor Justin Hardy

Justin Hardy, an Emmy- and BAFTA-nominated director, died last month at 61, shortly before the planned premiere. Cast member John Haswell told the BBC the screening will now be both a celebration of the film and of Justin's life.

Wrath of the Gods is also dedicated to Justin's mother, Caroline, an uncredited executive producer of the original film who died in 1984. Dominic described the coming premiere as both sad and celebratory and said Justin's work had brought the family together.

The original film's history is famously tangled—competing edits, financial trouble and stories of missing footage supposedly buried in motorway supports. The third chapter's path through an attic, a family reckoning and a Shetland production feels almost too on-brand. This time, though, the ending made it onto the screen.

Sources: BBC News, published Aug. 23, 2026 at 2:19 a.m. CT and updated at 7:51 a.m. CT; The Guardian, Aug. 3, 2026; FrightFest program listing.