Movies
Hammer Horror Returning to Life With New Owner and New Slate of Movies
You can’t talk about the history of horror without talking about Hammer Horror, with Hammer Film Productions over the years releasing countless classics including their own takes on iconic monsters such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Mummy, and their movies solidifying the likes of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing as true icons in the horror genre.
Variety reports this morning that British theater producer John Gore has acquired Hammer Films and Studios, and he’ll lead a new team aiming to revitalize the legendary brand.
“Under Gore’s management, the plan is to invest significantly in Hammer Films to breathe new life into the studio, blending the nostalgic charm of Hammer with modern cinematic style and innovation, while preserving its heritage and library,” Variety’s exclusive report details. “A new slate of films and projects will be unveiled imminently.”
First up is the Eddie Izzard-starring Doctor Jekyll, set for release later this year.
New owner John Gore said in a statement:
“Ever since I was a young boy, I’ve been enchanted by the magic of Hammer Films. Its stories, its characters and its unique place in British heritage and cinema have been a source of inspiration and wonder. Today, as I stand at the helm of this iconic studio, my commitment is twofold: to celebrate and preserve the unmatched legacy of Hammer and to usher in a new era of storytelling that captivates audiences worldwide. With significant investment and a fresh creative vision, we will ensure that the spirit of Hammer not only endures but thrives in the modern age.”
Bloody Disgusting’s Paul Farrell provides a brief company overview in the opening of his monthly column Hammer Factory, “While Hammer Studios has been in business since 1934, it was between 1955 and 1979 that it towered as one of the premier sources of edgy, gothic horror. On top of ushering the famous monsters of Universal’s horror heyday back into the public eye, resurrecting the likes of Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy in vivid color, the studio invited performers like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt and so many more to step into the genre limelight. Spanning a library housing over 300 films, Hammer Studios is a key part of horror history that until recently has been far too difficult to track down.”
It was announced two years ago that filmmaking team Radio Silence (Ready or Not, Scream, Scream VI, Abigail) were working on bringing Snake Plissken back to the screen for a brand new movie based on John Carpenter’s Escape from New York for 20th Century Studios, with John Carpenter himself on board as an executive producer of the upcoming movie.
The project had originally been described as a “reboot,” but filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett had described it as more of a “requel.” Unfortunately, the pair revealed to Comicbook.com that they’re no longer developing the requel and have parted ways with the project.
Gillett told the outlet, “We are not, unfortunately. I think titles like that bounce around for a while and I think they’ve tried to get that out of the blocks a few times. I think it’s just ultimately a tricky rights issue thing. There’s a clock on it and we just weren’t in a position to make the clock, ultimately. But who knows? I think, in hindsight, it feels crazy that we would think we would, post-Scream, step into a John Carpenter franchise. You never know. There’s still interest in it and we’ve had a few conversations about it but we’re not attached in any official capacity.”
Escape from New York was set in 1997. “When the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him.”
In Escape from LA, also directed by John Carpenter, “Snake Plissken is once again called in by the United States government to recover a potential doomsday device from Los Angeles, now an autonomous island where undesirables are deported.”
Radio Silence is fresh off of helming gory vampire movie Abigail. It’s the third vampire movie from the Universal Monsters brand in the past year, the film scaring up $34.7 million at the worldwide box office these past few weeks. That gives it a higher worldwide gross than both The Last Voyage of the Demeter ($21.7 million) and Renfield ($26.4 million), and it’s also the most critically successful of the three vampire movies. Abigail also just landed on Premium VOD, so you can watch at home now.
Stay tuned for additional details on the Escape from New York requel, and what’s next for Radio Silence.
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