While Anchor Bay works on their massive Halloween release, The Wicker Man director Robin Hardy gives ScreenDaily the inside scoop on the bran new cut that’s never before been seen!

After global hunt, an original print of the classic horror film has been discovered.

A worldwide appeal to retrieve missing film material for horror classic The Wicker Man has turned up an original print, that will released by StudioCanal this autumn.

The Wicker Man: The Final Cut will be released in cinemas on September 27, and on DVD/BD October 14 in celebration of the 40th anniversary.

Hardy said: “StudioCanal contacted me last year in their search for the original materials that have been missing.

“I’m very pleased to announce that StudioCanal have been able to find an actual print of The Wicker Man, which is based on my original cut working with Abraxas, the American distributors, all those years ago.

“They plan, and this is the exciting bit, to actually release it. This version has never been restored before, has never been shown in UK theatres before, has never been converted to Blu-ray before.

“This version will – optimistically – be known as the Final Cut.”

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the 1973 film about a policeman (Edward Woodward) sent to a remote island village in search of a missing girl, whom the townsfolk claim never existed. It also stars Christopher Lee.

The Wicker Man was originally released with minimal promotion as the second feature in a double bill with Don’t Look Now.

The version exhibited to audiences was significantly shorter (88mins) than Hardy’s original vision (102mins).

The negatives disappeared from storage at Shepperton Studios and were allegedly used as landfill in the construction of the nearby M4 motorway.

StudioCanal now intends to mark the 40th anniversary by releasing the “most complete version of the film possible”.