Wicker companion piece in pre-production
Robin Hardy’s Wicker Man (don’t you dare mention Cage and his bees) companion piece has gone by many names – May Day, The Riding of the Laddie – but now it appears to have settled on a comfortable title: Cowboys for Christ.
And shooting begins this September.
A bone of information was thrown our way this afternoon and since then we’ve been digging up details here and there. Fantastic Films International owns the worldwide rights to this “re-imagining” of Hardy’s original Wicker Man. Christopher Lee is back. There are roles for Faye Dunaway and Susie Amy and the story concerns a Gospel singer and a cowboy who venture to Scotland to pimp the word of Christ. “they are welcomed with joy and elation to Tressock, the border fiefdom of Sir Lachlan Morrison, they assume their hosts simply want to hear more about Jesus. How innocent and wrong they are.”
Moviehole scored some casting sheets…
Beth Boothby: 20s. Beth is Texan and an all-American beauty. She sang gospel with her Cowboys for Christ church until her remarkable voice was discovered and then joined the Redeemer’s choir. Along with other young missionaries, she travels the USA and overseas, spreading the Word. She is decent and modest and a real Believer with only an occasional scintilla of doubt about God’s purpose for her. Beth hasn’t had much time for the opposite sex, except for Steve whom she met when she was fifteen and loves deeply. Their love is tested by what happens to them in this story but we never really doubt that it is constant. On a trip to Scotland to both perform at an arts festival and spread the word of Christ to the “heathens” of Glasgow, Beth is invited to visit a borderland estate and castle on a secluded island belonging to a Scottish Laird — but once there, she soon learns that her charming invitation to be crowned the “Queen Of The May” is part of a complex, horrific pagan rite, designed to test her Faith and ultimately destroy her. MUST BE AN ACCOMPLISHED SINGER WITH A 4 OCTAVE RANGE. Lead;
Steve Thompson: 20s-Early 30s. Steve is that rare thing these days, a real Texas cowboy. Like Beth, he a true Believer in the Bible. The “silver ring” compact (no sex before marriage) that he and Beth have joined, has never really irked him because he genuinely loves her although he is not dazzled by her career. He is also a decent man, modest about even his one extraordinary skill – the riding of horses. But while Beth has lived almost perpetually in the artificial world of pop music tours, with her as the star, he has lived in the real world: the stables, the cattle drives, the bars, mixing with folks like himself – relatively poor people in rich Texas. Because he is in touch with reality, he is more skeptical than she is when they fall into Sir Lachlan Morrison’s trap. Invited to compete in a riding match, Steve thinks nothing of it, until he learns that his life is on the line and that the pagans of the island intend to destroy him. MUST BE COMFORTABLE AROUND HORSES AND A GREAT RIDER. Lead.
Cowboys for Christ is based on Hardy’s novel – check out the official site here which has an interview with Hardy and Lee discussing the material.
Source: Ryan Rotten
