Editing The Wicker Man (section)

==Distribution==
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By the time of the film's completion, the studio had been bought by EMI, and British Lion was managed by [[Michael Deeley]]. The DVD commentary track states that studio executives suggested a more "upbeat" ending to the film, in which a sudden rain puts the flames of the wicker man out and spares Howie's life, but this suggestion was refused. Hardy subsequently had to remove about 20&nbsp;minutes of scenes<ref name="Grdn"/> on the mainland, early investigations, and (to Lee's disappointment) some of Lord Summerisle's initial meeting with Howie.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-08 |title=The Director's Cut of 'The Wicker Man' Offers Different Horrors and Christopher Lee Singing |url=https://collider.com/the-wicker-man-directors-cut/ |access-date=2023-06-25 |website=Collider |language=en}}</ref>

===Original release===
The first screening of the film was to trade and cinema distributors on 3 December 1973.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web| url=http://artandhue.com/wicker |title = ''The Wicker Man'' | website = Art & Hue presents The Wicker Man}}</ref> The first public theatrical release was a week of test screenings at the Metropole Cinema London on 6 December 1973 ahead of the official public release in January 1974.<ref name="auto1"/> It runs 87 minutes.

A copy of a finished, 99-minute version<ref name="markkermode">{{cite web |last=Kermode |first=Mark |url=http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=111049 |title=Something Wicker This Way Comes |work=Channel4 |access-date=30 January 2009}}</ref> was sent to American [[film producer]] [[Roger Corman]] in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] to make a judgment of how to market the film in the U.S. Corman recommended an additional 13&nbsp;minutes be cut from the film. Corman did not acquire U.S. release rights, and eventually [[Warner Bros.]] test-marketed the film in drive-ins. It screened in the greater [[Atlanta]] area in May 1974.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wicker Man advertisement |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-journal-the-wicker-man/137534603/ |website=Newspapers.com|date=17 May 1974 }}</ref>

In Britain, the film was cut to roughly 87&nbsp;minutes, with some narrative restructuring, and released as the [[B-movie|"B" picture]] on a double bill with ''[[Don't Look Now]]''. According to Lee, the cuts adversely affected the film's [[Continuity (fiction)|continuity]].

===First restoration===
During the mid-1970s, Hardy made inquiries about the film, hoping to restore it to his original vision. Along with Lee and Shaffer, Hardy searched for his original cut, or raw footage. Both of these appeared to have been lost. Director [[Alex Cox]] said in his ''[[Moviedrome]]'' introduction in 1988 that the negative had "ended up in the pylons that support the [[M4 motorway (Great Britain)|M4 motorway]]."<ref name="alexcox">{{cite web |last=Cox |first=Alex |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8IGJjukTzc  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/K8IGJjukTzc| archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Moviedrome – Wicker Man – Alex Cox intro |work=YouTube |date=6 October 2006 |access-date=20 February 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Hardy recalled that a copy of the film made prior to Deeley's cuts was sent to Roger Corman, who, it turned out, still had it, possibly the only existing print of Hardy's original cut. The US rights had been sold by Warner Bros. to a small firm called Abraxas, managed by film buff Stirling Smith and critic John Alan Simon. Stirling agreed to an American release of a reconstruction by Hardy. Hardy restored the narrative structure, some of the erotic elements which had been excised, and a very brief pretitle segment of Howie on the mainland (appearing at a church with his fiancée). A 96-minute restored version was released in January 1979,<ref name="stevephilips">{{cite web | title=The various versions of ''The Wicker Man'' | last=Philips |first=Steve |work=Steve's Web Page |year=2002 |url=http://steve-p.org/wm/ |access-date=11 December 2006}}</ref> again to critical acclaim.

===US VHS versions===
The original 99-minute version was available in the US on VHS home video from Media Home Entertainment (and later Magnum) during the 1980s and 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Wicker Man {{!}} VHSCollector.com |url=https://vhscollector.com/movie/wicker-man-0 |access-date=2023-06-25 |website=vhscollector.com}}</ref> This video includes additional early scenes set inside Howie's police station, which Hardy had left out of the 1979 restoration. In 2001, a remaster of the 88-minute cut was released on VHS, labelled as the "Theatrical Version".

===Director's cut===
In 2001, the film's new world rights owners, [[Canal+ Group|Canal+]], tried to release the full-length film. Corman's copy had been lost, but a [[telecine]] transfer to 1-inch videotape existed. Missing elements were combined with film elements from the previous versions (in particular, additional scenes of Howie on the mainland were restored, showing him to be the object of gossip at his police station, establishing his devout religiosity). The extended DVD cut was released by Canal+ ([[Anchor Bay Entertainment]] handling US DVD distribution) in this 99-minute hybrid, considered the longest and closest version to Hardy's original 100-odd minute version.<ref name="stevephilips" /> A two-disc limited edition set was sold with the shortened theatrical release, the new extended version and a documentary, ''The Wicker Man Enigma''.<ref name="wickermanenigma">{{IMDb title|id=0307667 |title=The Wicker Man Enigma |description=2001 documentary on the film's production and releases. }}</ref> In 2005, ''Inside the Wicker Man'' author Allan Brown revealed he had discovered stills taken on the set showing sequences from the script that had never been seen; it had never been certain that the scenes had been filmed. They include scenes where Howie closes a mainland pub open after hours, encounters a prostitute, has a massage from Willow McGregor, and sees a brutal confrontation between Oak and a villager in The Green Man, which were featured in a revised edition of ''Inside the Wicker Man''. Anchor Bay released a limited-edition wooden box of ''The Wicker Man''. About 50,000 two-disc sets were made, of which 20 were signed by Lee and Woodward, Shaffer, Snell, and Hardy. In March 2002, Lee discussed the lost original cut, "I still believe it exists somewhere, in [[film can|cans]] with no name. I still believe that. But nobody's ever seen it since, so we couldn't re-cut it, re-edit it, which was what I wanted to do. It would have been ten times as good".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M39giPEjE6Y |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/M39giPEjE6Y| archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Christopher Lee talks about The Wicker Man|author=Lee, Christopher|publisher=[[YouTube]]|date=21 March 2002|access-date=9 April 2012|author-link=Christopher Lee}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===''The Final Cut''===
European distributors of the film StudioCanal began a [[Facebook]] campaign in 2013 to find missing material, which culminated in the discovery of a 92-minute 35&nbsp;mm print at the [[Harvard Film Archive]]. This print had previously been known as the "Middle Version" and was itself assembled from a 35&nbsp;mm print of the original edit Robin Hardy had made in the United Kingdom in 1973, but which was never released.<ref name="cinemaretro1">{{cite web|url=http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php?/archives/7569-RESTORED-VERSION-OF-THE-WICKER-MAN-TO-BE-RELEASED-IN-UK-THEATRES.html |title=RESTORED VERSION OF "THE WICKER MAN" TO BE RELEASED IN UK THEATRES - Celebrating Films of the 1960s & 1970s |publisher=Cinemaretro.com |access-date=29 December 2013}}</ref> Robin Hardy believed that the original edit will probably never be found, saying, "Sadly, it seems as though this has been lost forever. However, I am delighted that a 1979 Abraxas print has been found as I also put together this cut myself, and it crucially restores the story order to that which I had originally intended."<ref name="cinemaretro1"/>

Hardy reported in July 2013<ref name="moviemail1">[http://www.moviemail.com/blog/news/1612-Robin-Hardy-announces-results-of-The-Wicker-Man-appeal-original-print-found/ Robin Hardy announces results of The Wicker Man appeal - original print found] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724132745/http://www.moviemail.com/blog/news/1612-Robin-Hardy-announces-results-of-The-Wicker-Man-appeal-original-print-found/ |date=24 July 2013 }} ''Moviemail'' website, 22 July 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013.</ref> that Studiocanal intended to restore and release the most complete version possible of the film. Rialto Pictures announced that it was to release the new digital restoration in North American cinemas on 27 September 2013.<ref>[https://latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-cult-wicker-man-restored-20130827,0,7312104.story British cult classic 'The Wicker Man' to be released in theaters] ''LA Times'' website, 27 August 2013</ref> This new version was also released on DVD on 13 October 2013.<ref name="scifinow1">{{cite web|url=http://www.scifinow.co.uk/reviews/48921/the-wicker-man-the-final-cut-dvd-review/ |title=The Wicker Man: The Final Cut DVD review |date=28 September 2013 |publisher=SciFiNow |access-date=29 December 2013}}</ref> It is 91 minutes long, shorter than the director's cut but longer than the theatrical cut, and is known as ''The Wicker Man: The Final Cut''.<ref name="scifinow1"/>

''The Final Cut'' (UK) Blu-ray<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=25107 |title=Rewind @ www.dvdcompare.net - Wicker Man (The) (Blu-ray) (1973) |publisher=Dvdcompare.net |access-date=9 August 2014}}</ref> (2013) features short documentaries "Burnt Offering: The Cult of the Wicker Man", "Worshipping the Wicker Man", "The Music of the Wicker Man", interviews with director Robin Hardy and actor Christopher Lee, a restoration comparison, and the theatrical trailer. The second disc features both the UK 87-minute theatrical cut and the 95-minute 2013 director's cut, along with an [[audio commentary]] on the director's cut and a making-of for the commentary. The third disc is [[The Wicker Man soundtrack|the soundtrack to the film]].

===50th Anniversary: 4K restorations, Final Cut screenings and 'Musics from Summerisle' ===

In 2023, for the 50th anniversary of the film's release, StudioCanal announced [[4K resolution]] restoration of existing footage, and remastering of the existing three cuts for a "4K Ultra HD Collector's Edition" release on 25 September 2023.

On 21 June, the 4K restoration Final Cut was screened in cinemas across the UK along with a Q&A filmed in London, hosted by [[Edith Bowman]] with guests including Britt Ekland, and Robin Hardy's sons Julian and Dominic promoting their ''Wickermania!'' documentary.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.studiocanal.co.uk/news/new-trailer-and-poster-for-the-wicker-man-reborn-in-glorious-4k/|title=New trailer and poster for The Wicker Man – reborn in glorious 4K|date=3 May 2023}}</ref>

On 24 June, the [[Barbican Centre]] held "Musics from Summerisle", a live performance celebration of the anniversary.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2023/event/musics-from-summerisle|title=Musics from Summerisle|date=24 June 2023 }}</ref>