Trivia / The Wicker Man (2006)

• Billing Displacement: Ellen Burstyn gets second billing and yet doesn't show up until 62 minutes in.
• Box Office Bomb: Thanks to Neil LaBute creating a World Of Narm rather than an actual horror movie, critics laughed in his face when they got a chance to see the film, and film failed to even make back its budget. Said budget, $40 million. Box office, $38,755,073.
• Creator Backlash: Nicolas Cage: "'I might have known that that movie was meant to be absurd."
• Disowned Adaptation:
  • Robin Hardy, who directed and co-wrote the original, had his name removed from the credits out of disgust at the movie.
  • Christopher Lee was also highly critical of it.
  • Ingrid Pitt in her column at Den of Geek took the time to slam the remake for being a cheap attempt to piggyback off the original's fame.
• In Memoriam: Nicolas Cage dedicated the film to Johnny Ramone. That's right, the guitarist of The Ramones. Johnny introduced Cage to the original movie, but if you don't know that, it comes off as a really weird dedication.
• Not Screened for Critics: The film's unintentional humor might have had something to do with this. Unsurprisingly, it was panned for that reason.
  Rotten Tomatoes critics' consensus: Puzzlingly misguided, Neil LaBute's update The Wicker Man struggles against unintentional comedy and fails.
• Referenced by...: In Skylanders, Bumble Blast's quest is called "Not the Bees!"
• Saved from Development Hell: Universal had been trying to remake The Wicker Man (1973) since The '90s. It was officially announced in 2002.
• Typecasting: Frances Conroy found herself playing a lot of Cloud Cuckoo Lander side characters at this point in the 2000s.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Winona Ryder turned down the role of Willow, hating the script.
  • Liam Neeson and Robert Carlyle were both considered for the lead role.
  • Edward Woodward was offered a Remake Cameo but turned it down.

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