Remember almost two years ago, when I told you all that Robin Hardy’s COWBOYS FOR CHRIST was being shelved indefinitely thanks to financing problems? Well it seems those problems may finally be clearing up…
Robin Hardy’s THE WILLOW TREE is just entering into post-production and to celebrate we’ve got an official website for you all to check out! THE WILLOW TREE, which is pretty much COWBOYS FOR CHRIST resurrected, is being described as a ‘re-imagining’ of Hardy’s classic 1973 film THE WICKER MAN. The film comes from writer/director Robin Hardy and stars Christopher Lee, Graham McTavish, Clive Russell, Honeysuckle Weeks, Henry Garrett, Callum Mitchell, Jacqueline Leonard, Prue Clarke, James Mapes, Keith Warwick, Brittania Nicol, Iain Stuart Robertson and Christopher Leveaux. Here’s a nice juicy synopsis for THE WILLOW TREE:
Gospel singer Beth and her cowboy friend Steve, set off from Texas to enlighten the Scottish heathens in the ways of Christ. When they are welcomed with joy and elation to the village of Tressock, the border fiefdom of Sir Lachlan Morrison, they assume their hosts simply want to hear more about Jesus. Beguiled by beautiful, sexy Celtic music, in counterpoint to the bluegrass hymns Beth sings to them, she is elected Queen of the May. Meanwhile an increasingly doubtful Steve becomes her consort, destined to be hunted on horseback by the whole community in a ritual he believes to be an innocent race. Neither of them realize that these honours are being heaped upon them for a purpose that will lead them to a terrifying end…
If you head to THE WILLOW TREE’s official website you’ll find the groovy image above and the option to sign up for updates via email. Alright not much at all but at least we’ve got something to go on! And if you head over to Flickr you can check out a few behind the scenes shots for THE WICKER TREE. Nice.
Hopefully this is just the start of many WILLOW TREE updates and we’re double hopeful that TREE ends up being just as genius as Hardy’s WICKER MAN was. Time will tell… Be sure to keep it here for more WILLOW TREE updates as we hear them!