THE WICKER MAN - LABUTE DEFENDS WICKER MAN REMAKE

Director NEIL LaBUTE insists original THE WICKER MAN star CHRISTOPHER LEE will be happy with his remake of the cult horror classic, despite the veteran actor labelling the new movie "desperate". Lee, 84, played cult leader LORD SUMMERISLE in the 1973 movie, which starred EDWARD WOODWARD as a police officer investigating a religious cult on a remote island. When THE LORD OF THE RINGS actor realised LaBute was remaking the movie with an estimated $40 million (GBP22.2 million) budget and NICOLAS CAGE in Woodward's role, Lee fumed, "I would not embark on this when it was so successful the first time." However, LaBute tells British magazine Hotdog, "Christopher Lee strongly believes that this is a piece that shouldn't be dabbled with and I completely respect that opinion, that's his, and he can feel anyway he likes. "But I think, if one was to look and see, I was very careful because I'm a big fan of what he did in that movie."