By WILLIAM J. WRIGHT
Justin Hardy (1964 – 2026)
Tragic news from the U.K.: Justin Hardy, the eldest son of Robin Hardy, the director of the original 1973 folk horror film The Wicker Man, has died. Hardy had recently completed a sequel to his father’s film titled Wrath of the Gods, slated to premiere at London’s Frightfest on August 28. The final entry in the Wicker Man trilogy, following the elder Hardy’s The Wicker Tree (2011), Wrath of the Gods stars Christiane Schaldemose as a woman who returns to an isolated Scottish island to bury her husband amidst a rash of missing-child incidents, making her the target of superstitious locals. The film is based on original concepts and script fragments developed by Robin Hardy, completing a loose Wicker Man trilogy.
Justin and his younger brother Dominic Hardy, co-writer of Wrath of the Gods, recounted the making of The Wicker Man and the impact it had on their late father and his family in the 2024 documentary film Children of the Wicker Man and a 2025 companion book of the same name.
In an official statement, his family told the BBC, “He was so full of life right to the end, and incredibly energised to be working towards premiering his latest film this month. We are all so proud of him and heartbroken he won’t be with us at his premiere. He was a man of family, of boundless creativity and of devotion for everyone he held dear.”
The apparent cause of death was a heart attack. Justin Hardy was 61.
