The Wicker Man nature in spring. 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 minutes of scenes on the mainland, early investigations, and (to Lee's disappointment) some of Lord Summerisle's initial meeting with Howie. The first screening of the film was to trade and
The Wicker Man (2006 film) consensus says, "Puzzlingly misguided, Neil LaBute's update "The Wicker Man" struggles against unintentional comedy and fails." On Metacritic, the film has a normalized score of 36% from 19 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". CinemaScore gave it rating of "F" based on surveys from general audiences. On "At the Movies", the film received two thumbs down from Richard Roeper and Aisha Tyler, although they both said the film was "entertainingly bad". The film was not without its positive reviews. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly, saw the film in a more positive light, saying that director Neil LaBute brought some "innovation" over