Hammer Horror brand to be resurrected by 'Big Brother' founder

by Alex Donohue, Brand Republic 11-May-07, 08:50

LONDON - The Hammer Horror Group, famous for producing 'The Curse of The Werewolf', 'Dracula' and 'The Brides of Dracula', has been bought by Dutch media tycoon and 'Big Brother' creator John de Mol and his production company Cyrte Investments.

The stable, which consists of nearly 300 titles dating back to 1934, is set to be revolutionised for the digital era, with Simon Oakes, who will run the operation for Cyrte Investments keen for Hammer Horror to start producing films after a 30 year break from the Hollywood box office.

It is understood Hammer Horror has been bought from a consortium that includes Charles Saatchi, Neil Mendoza, chief executive of Forward Publishing, and author William Sieghart, for somewhere in the region of a "few million pounds".

John de Mol, who was responsible for making 'Big Brother' an international hit, plans to target a "new generation of horror lovers" by digitising Hammer Horror films for mobile, DVD and the internet.

At its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, many of Hammer Horror's films became cult global smashes, including 'The Curse of The Werewolf', featuring Oliver Reed, 'One Million Years BC', starring Raquel Welch, and 'The Curse of Frankenstein', which featured Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as Baron Victor Frankenstein and The Creature respectively.

However, as interest in gothic horror began to wane in the 1970s, the company attempted to diversify into other genres, but failed to maintain its popularity.

Oakes said: "Hammer is a great British brand -- we intend to take it back into production and develop its global potential. The brand is still alive, but no one has invested in it for a long time."

As well as producing new Hammer Horror titles, Cyrte Investments plan to create stage plays and programmes for TV. Oakes added: "We want to go out and develop screenplays and find writers too. It is important that it's a British brand, but the most successful British brands are those that travel beyond the shores of Britain."

Meanwhile, the sale of Endemol has taken a major step forward, following the news that three final round bids are likely to be made from French private equity group PAI, US private equity business TH Lee, and Televisa, Mexico's largest broadcaster. Telefonica, which has a 75% controlling stake in Endemol, expects the business to fetch in the region of €3bn (£2bn).