The British filmmaker died on Friday after suffering a heart attack, his family said in a statement.

British filmmaker Justin Hardy, who directed a sequel to his late father Robin's 1973 cult horror classic The Wicker Man, has died aged 61. His family said Hardy died on Friday night after suffering a heart attack, remembering him as "a man of family, of boundless creativity" and "so full of life right to the end". A Bafta and Emmy nominated writer and director, Hardy was known for the documentary Children of the Wicker Man in 2024, made with his brother Dominic, which chronicled the legacy of their father's iconic film. He had just completed production on Wrath of the Gods, the concluding chapter to the Wicker Man trilogy, which was due to premiere in London later this month. Hardy also directed historical films and documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4 and CNN, including Princes In The Tower, Trafalgar Battle Surgeon, The Relief Of Belsen and Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen. His family said they were "devastated" by his death and "heartbroken" Hardy would not be able to see Wrath of the Gods open. "We've lost him and we've lost that larger-than-life presence looking over us all," he said. "He really became a filmmaker his own right." Dominic also praised Hardy's work on his last film as "incredibly beautiful", adding it was "a great satisfaction to him" to have made something new.