Hammer Films Lives Again
May 11, 2007
Here we go again... An attempt to revive the UK's Hammer Film name is in the works with an all new set of players. Every so often we hear of such efforts to breathe new life into the studio that brought us colorful, bloody new takes on Dracula and Frankenstein and originals such as The Reptile and Plague of the Zombies, but nothing comes to fruition.
Producer John De Mol ("Fear Factor," "Big Brother"), Los Angeles-based Spitfire Pictures and Liberty Global hope to change all of that.
Variety is reporting all three parties are coming together to produce at least two to three horror flicks a year based on De Mol's recent acquisition of the Hammer Film library rights. $50 million has been invested to spark new life in the horror house that closed its doors in the '80s. An announcement regarding the first few films on their slate is expected to come from the Cannes Film Festival. "Hammer is a great British media brand that has lain dormant but lived on in people's imaginations," Liberty Global executive producer Simon Oakes tells the trade. "It is more intelligent and character-driven than traditional American 'goreography,' and we intend to capitalize on this and make it a global brand."
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