Justin Hardy Dead at 61: 'The Wicker Man' Filmmaker Dies Just Weeks Before 'Wrath of the Gods' Premiere
Justin Hardy, son of Robin Hardy, completes 'The Wicker Man' trilogy with 'Wrath of the Gods' before his untimely death.
He was not on the list.
Justin Hardy, the British filmmaker who completed Wrath of the Gods, the long-planned final chapter in The Wicker Man trilogy, has died aged 61 after a heart attack on Friday night, just weeks before the film's London premiere.
Hardy had recently finished work on Wrath of the Gods, billed as the concluding chapter of the Wicker Man trilogy that began with his father Robin Hardy's 1973 film and continued with The Wicker Tree in 2011. The new film is due to premiere at genre festival FrightFest in Leicester Square on 28 August.
In a statement, Hardy's family said they were 'devastated' by his sudden death and 'heartbroken' that he would not live to see the film open.
They described him as 'so full of life right to the end' and 'incredibly energised to be working towards premiering his latest film this month', calling him 'a man of family, of boundless creativity, and of devotion for everyone he held dear'.
He is survived by his wife Larissa and their four children, Sam, Ludo, Nico and Summer.
How Justin Hardy Reforged a Folk-Horror Landmark
The news follows a late-career burst of activity that saw Hardy step further into the legacy of his father's most famous work. In 2024 he and his brother Dominic released the documentary Children of the Wicker Man, examining both the enduring popularity of the original film and the toll its making took on their family.
The 1973 The Wicker Man, starring Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee, follows a police sergeant sent to a remote Scottish island to investigate a missing girl, only to uncover a pagan community with its own rituals. It flopped on release but later acquired a cult following and is now regarded as one of Britain's defining horror films.
After Robin Hardy died in 2016 aged 86, his wish to complete a trilogy around the Wicker Man myth did not vanish with him. His sons were later approached about the dormant third film, which Dominic said became the 'impetus to close the chapter on the films'.
Wrath of the Gods grew out of material found in a script Robin Hardy had written years earlier. It stars Game of Thrones actor Francis Magee and Norwegian performer Christiane Schaerdemose, and was, according to Dominic, 'a great satisfaction' to Justin, who felt he had made something genuinely new rather than trading on nostalgia.
From The Bill to Wrath of the Gods
Evil Dead Burn Debuts With A 92% Rotten Tomatoes Score, Fans
Warned To Stay For Its Post-Credits SceneRead moreEvil Dead Burn Debuts With A
92% Rotten Tomatoes Score, Fans Warned To Stay For Its Post-Credits Scene
Hardy was a history graduate from Oxford University. He studied film in Bournemouth and scriptwriting in California before building a career in television and factual drama.
He directed episodes of The Bill and London's Burning, and developed a strong niche in historical reconstructions and documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4 and CNN, including Princes in the Tower, Trafalgar Battle Surgeon, The Relief of Belsen and Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen.
His work earned him nominations for both a Bafta and an Emmy.
Dominic said his brother had 'really became a filmmaker in his own right,' adding: 'We've lost him and we've lost that larger-than-life presence looking over us all.'
In recent years Hardy had also taught screenwriting at University College London, passing on his craft to a new generation of students.
Wrath of the Gods will now open without the filmmaker who led the effort to bring it to the screen, closing a family saga that extended far beyond a single film.
Director
Wrath of the Gods
director and writer
Completed
2026
Children of the Wicker Man (2024)
Children of the Wicker Man
6.9
Director
2024
Slade @ 150 (2022)
Slade @ 150
Director
2022
Locked Up Abroad (2007)
Locked Up Abroad
8.1
TV Series
Director
2021
1 episode
King Charles III, Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince
Harry, Prince William of Wales, Meghan Markle, and Catherine Princess of Wales
in The Windsors: A Royal Dynasty (2020)
The Windsors: A Royal Dynasty
7.4
TV Series
drama director
2020
6 episodes
Conquest 1066: Told by the teacher you wish you'd had
TV Mini Series
Director
2018
Conquest: From Hereward the Wake to Brexit
TV Mini Series
Director
2018
Behind the Documentary: China's Forgotten War with Rana
Mitter (2017)
Behind the Documentary: China's Forgotten War with Rana
Mitter
TV Movie
Director
2017
Lost Reels of Nineveh with Amara Thornton (2017)
Lost Reels of Nineveh with Amara Thornton
TV Short
Director
2017
Silk Roads with Peter Frankopan (2017)
Silk Roads with Peter Frankopan
TV Movie
Director
2017
Steven Mackintosh, Kara Tointon, Olivia Williams, Matt Ryan,
Jamie Blackley, Sope Dirisu, and Hermione Corfield in The Halcyon (2017)
The Halcyon
7.4
TV Series
Director
2017
2 episodes
A Spell on You (2015)
A Spell on You
5.8
Director
2015
The Green Park (2015)
The Green Park
6.6
Director
2015
Warren Brown in Captain Webb (2015)
Captain Webb
5.8
Director
2015
The Jesus Mysteries (2014)
The Jesus Mysteries
6.3
TV Movie
drama director
2014
37 Days (2014)
37 Days
8.1
TV Mini Series
Director
2014
3 episodes
Love Me Till Monday (2013)
Love Me Till Monday
5.5
Director
2013
Samantha Bond and David Morrissey in London's Burning (2011)
London's Burning
6.9
TV Movie
Director
2011
The Man Who Crossed Hitler (2011)
The Man Who Crossed Hitler
6.6
TV Movie
Director
2011
Merv Lukeba in Bloody Foreigners (2010)
Bloody Foreigners
8.7
TV Series
Director
2010
1 episode
Mark Gatiss and Bill Paterson in Spanish Flu: The Forgotten
Fallen (2009)
Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen
7.3
TV Movie
Director
2009
1066: The Battle for Middle Earth (2009)
1066: The Battle for Middle Earth
6.4
TV Mini Series
Director
2009
2 episodes
Heist (2008)
Heist
6.9
TV Movie
Director
2008
Ian McDiarmid in City of Vice (2008)
City of Vice
7.4
TV Mini Series
Director
2008
3 episodes
Iain Glen, Corin Redgrave, and Jemma Redgrave in The Relief
of Belsen (2007)
The Relief of Belsen
7.2
TV Movie
Director
2007
A Harlot's Progress (2006)
A Harlot's Progress
6.9
TV Movie
Director
2006
Trafalgar Battle Surgeon
8.1
TV Movie
Director
2005
Princes in the Tower (2005)
Princes in the Tower
7.5
TV Movie
Director
2005
Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real (2004)
Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real
6.5
TV Movie
Director
2004
Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance (2004)
Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance
8.0
TV Mini Series
Director
2004
4 episodes
Georgian Underworld (2003)
Georgian Underworld
TV Series
Director
2003
2 episodes
Fire, Plague, War and Treason
6.1
TV Mini Series
Director
2001
1 episode
Beech Is Back (2001)
Beech Is Back
7.5
TV Mini Series
Director
2001
2 episodes
Michael French and Nigel Havers in The Gentleman Thief
(2001)
The Gentleman Thief
6.2
TV Movie
Director
2001
Zoë Eeles, Christopher Ellison, and Justin Pierre in
Burnside (2000)
Burnside
7.2
TV Series
Director
2000
2 episodes
Hope & Glory (1999)
Hope & Glory
8.1
TV Series
Director
2000
1 episode
Nick Berry in Harbour Lights (1999)
Harbour Lights
6.4
TV Series
Director
2000
1 episode
Secret History (1991)
Secret History
6.6
TV Series
Director
1999
1 episode
The Bill (1984)
The Bill
6.7
TV Series
Director
1997–1999
4 episodes
Sean Arnold, Philip Martin Brown, Kate Buffery, and George
Irving in Wing and a Prayer (1997)
Wing and a Prayer
6.8
TV Series
Director
1999
2 episodes
Strictly Supernatural (1997)
Strictly Supernatural
8.0
TV Series
Director
1997
2 episodes
Eyewitness (1994)
Eyewitness
8.9
TV Series
Director
1996
1 episode
London Bridge (1996)
London Bridge
8.1
TV Series
Director
1996–1999
Christopher Lee in A Feast at Midnight (1994)
A Feast at Midnight
6.7
Director
1994
Screenplay (1986)
Screenplay
6.5
TV Series
Director
1988
1 episode
Producer
History of Islam with Tom Holland (2017)
History of Islam with Tom Holland
TV Short
editor-producer
2017
Temple Church & William the Marshall with Dan Jones
(2017)
Temple Church & William the Marshall with Dan Jones
TV Short
edit producer
2017
The Knights Templar with Dan Jones (2017)
The Knights Templar with Dan Jones
TV Movie
edit producer
2017
Titanic's Tragic Twin: The Britannic Disaster (2016)
Titanic's Tragic Twin: The Britannic Disaster
6.6
TV Movie
executive producer
2016
A Spell on You (2015)
A Spell on You
5.8
executive producer
2015
The Jesus Mysteries (2014)
The Jesus Mysteries
6.3
TV Movie
executive producer
2014
Merv Lukeba in Bloody Foreigners (2010)
Bloody Foreigners
8.7
TV Series
executive producer
2010
1 episode
True Horror (2009)
True Horror
7.1
TV Series
executive producer
2009
1066: The Battle for Middle Earth (2009)
1066: The Battle for Middle Earth
6.4
TV Mini Series
executive producer
2009
1 episode
Heist (2008)
Heist
6.9
TV Movie
producer
2008
The Saint & the Hanged Man
6.7
TV Movie
executive producer: Hardy & Sons
2008
Ian McDiarmid in City of Vice (2008)
City of Vice
7.4
TV Mini Series
executive producer: Hardy & Sons
2008
5 episodes
Iain Glen, Corin Redgrave, and Jemma Redgrave in The Relief
of Belsen (2007)
The Relief of Belsen
7.2
TV Movie
producer
2007
Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance (2004)
Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance
8.0
TV Mini Series
producer
2004
4 episodes
Writer
Wrath of the Gods
story and screenplay
Completed
2026
Theresa vs. Boris: How May Became PM (2017)
Theresa vs. Boris: How May Became PM
6.9
TV Movie
written by
2017
A Spell on You (2015)
A Spell on You
5.8
Writer
2015
Love Me Till Monday (2013)
Love Me Till Monday
5.5
Writer
2013
Iain Glen, Corin Redgrave, and Jemma Redgrave in The Relief
of Belsen (2007)
The Relief of Belsen
7.2
TV Movie
written by
2007
Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real (2004)
Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real
6.5
TV Movie
story bywritten by
2004
Christopher Lee in A Feast at Midnight (1994)
A Feast at Midnight
6.7
original screenplay by
1994
Editor
Art Detective: HistoryHit.TV (2017)
Art Detective: HistoryHit.TV
TV Mini Series
Editor
2017
Thanks
Way of the Morris (2011)
Way of the Morris
7.1
thanks
2011
No comments:
Post a Comment