By MCN Editor editor@moviecitynews.com

‘THE WOMAN IN BLACK: ANGELS OF DEATH’ MARKS NEXT INSTALLMENT IN HAMMER’S ‘THE WOMAN IN BLACK’ SERIES

Posted Monday, April 2nd, 2012 - Comments Off on ‘THE WOMAN IN BLACK: ANGELS OF DEATH’ MARKS NEXT INSTALLMENT IN HAMMER’S ‘THE WOMAN IN BLACK’ SERIES
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Hammer, Alliance Films, and Cross Creek Pictures re-team with acclaimed author Susan Hill on follow-up to The Woman In Black

April 2nd 2012:  Simon Oakes, Vice-Chairman of Exclusive Media and President & CEO of Hammer and Guy East and Nigel Sinclair, Co-Chairmen of Exclusive Media, Hammer’s parent company, announced today that Hammer and Talisman are in development on Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black: Angels Of Death, a new film which continues the story of The Woman in Black 40 years on.

The Woman in Black, starring Daniel Radcliffe and directed by James Watkins (Eden Lake) has become the highest grossing British horror film of the past 20 years, grossing over $33 million in the UK and recently crossing the $120 million box office mark worldwide.

Screenwriter Jon Croker (Desert Dancer) is now developing the screenplay for the next instalment in the series, The Woman in Black: Angels Of Death, based on an original story by Hill, under development for the past few years and now complete.

The Woman in Black was set in the early 1900’s and based on the tale of a young lawyer who is ordered to travel to a remote corner of the UK, to sort out the papers of a recently deceased client. In the eerie setting of Eel Marsh House he discovers the vengeful ghost of The Woman in Black.  This next instalment, The Woman in Black: Angels Of Death, will continue this story four decades later and focus on the concept of a couple and the experience they have when they encounter the haunted setting of Eel Marsh House.

The Woman in Black: Angels Of Death will be brought to the big screen by the same production team behind The Woman In Black. The Film will be produced by Exclusive Media, Talisman, Cross Creek Pictures and Alliance Films, in addition to Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment, who will serve as Executive Producer.

Simon Oakes, Vice-Chairman of Exclusive Media and President & CEO of Hammer Films said: “We are proud and honoured to be working with Susan again on The Woman in Black: Angels Of Death, a wonderful new tale every bit as atmospheric and terrifying as its predecessor The Woman in Black.”

Nigel Sinclair Co-Chairman and CEO of Exclusive Media added: “It’s thrilling to be able to work with someone of Susan’s literary calibre on such a fascinating project. It’s also fantastic to have Jon on board again to help bring this new story to life on the big screen.”

For further information please go to:

Maxine Leonard Maxine@maxineleonard.com 323 549 0693

NOTES TO EDITORS:

*The Woman in Black has is the highest grossing British horror films of the last 20 years (Rentrak).   To date the film has grossed over $100 million worldwide since its release in February 2012.

ABOUT HAMMER

Originally founded in 1934, legendary British film studio Hammer has delivered a hugely successful run of films over the years including Dracula, Frankenstein Created Woman, One Million Years B.C. and The Vampire Lovers. Since 2008, the company has been part of Exclusive Media, which is reinvigorating this beloved global brand through investment across both traditional and new media.

Not in production since the 1980s, Hammer marked their return to features in 2010 with the release of the critically acclaimed Let Me In, an adaptation of the highly praised Swedish film Låt den rätte komma in. The film was written and directed by Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) and stars Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road).

In 2011, Hammer released Antti Jokinen’s The Resident starring two-time Academy Award® winner Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry, Million Dollar Baby), Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hammer legend Sir Christopher Lee, as well as the critically lauded Wake Wood directed by David Keating and starring Aidan Gillen, Eva Birthistle and Timothy Spall.

February 2012 saw the theatrical release of Hammer’s first ever feature ghost story The Woman In Black, directed by James Watkins, adapted by Jane Goldman from the book by Susan Hill, and starring Daniel Radcliffe. The film has taken over $ 100mm worldwide making it one of the biggest indie horror films.

Hammer recently launched a new publishing imprint through Random House which has already published eight books. In February 2012 the imprint published its first original title with the much-praised “The Greatcoat” by Helen Dunmore, which will be followed by an original novel about the Pendle witches, by Jeanette Winterson, and “Coldbrook” by Tim Lebbon. Also publishing in 2012 are further new novelisations of classic Hammer films.

Hammer is also broadening its reach, with plans for a Hammer Theatre of Horror and a Hammer visitor attraction, as well as continuing to honour the company’s legacy with re-releases of classic films, official histories, merchandise, screenings and social media engagement.

For further information about Hammer and its parent company Exclusive Media, please visit www.hammerfilms.com and www.exclusivemedia.com

ABOUT EXCLUSIVE MEDIA

Exclusive Media is a major force in the production and international distribution arena. Recent production titles include the box-office hit THE WOMAN IN BLACK, starring Daniel Radcliffe, and George Clooney’s THE IDES OF MARCH, produced by Smokehouse Pictures and co-produced by Exclusive Media with Cross Creek Pictures.

Exclusive Media’s current production slate also includes Ron Howard’s epic RUSH starring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl and produced with production partners Cross Creek Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Working Title, Brian Grazer, and Revolution Films; END OF WATCH, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna Kendrick and America Ferrera; SO UNDERCOVER, starring Miley Cyrus; SNITCH, starring Dwayne Johnson and Susan Sarandon in post-production; THE QUIET ONES, to be directed by John Pogue; and BONESHAKER, to be produced with Cross Creek Pictures.

Recent titles from Exclusive Media’s documentary film division, Spitfire Pictures, include the Academy Award® winner UNDEFEATED, released through The Weinstein Company, and Martin Scorsese’s award-winning GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD, produced by Martin Scorsese, Nigel Sinclair and Olivia Harrison.

Additionally, Exclusive Media represents the international rights to a number of high profile third party productions which currently include THERESE from producers Mickey Liddell and William Horberg, starring Jessica Lang, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Felton and Oscar Isaacs; OUTRUN from writer/director Dax Shephard who also stars with Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper and Tom Arnold;  the ensemble DISCONNECT also produced by Horberg and Liddell with Jennifer Hilton; and Sundance favorite ROBOT & FRANK starring Frank Langella.

Exclusive Media is a vertically integrated global film entertainment company, founded in May 2008 with the backing of the strategic investment group Cyrte Investments. Exclusive Media develops, finances, produces, markets and distributes prestige and talent-driven commercial and documentary feature films on a global basis.

Exclusive Media is run by a five-member executive board with Nigel Sinclair as Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Guy East as Co-Chairman, Simon Oakes as Vice Chairman and President of Hammer, Marc Schipper as Chief Operating Officer, and Randy Hermann as Chief Financial Officer.  Supporting the executive board in both the operational management and strategic expansion of the business is a strong team of highly skilled professionals who have a broad range of complementary experience.

Exclusive Media’s development and production activities operate through three specialist labels: UK-based Hammer, for genre titles; Spitfire Pictures, for documentary features; and the flagship label Exclusive Media, for all other feature film production.

Exclusive Media’s international sales & distribution division maintains a strong marketing presence and represents the group’s in-house productions plus its growing library of more than 550 titles, as well as actively acquiring third-party feature films to further strengthen its international distribution slate.

For further information about the company, our slate of films, library and our experienced management team, please visit www.exclusivemedia.com

ABOUT CROSS CREEK PICTURES

Cross Creek Pictures, formed by Timmy Thompson and Brian Oliver, is an independent film production and finance company that has a mandate of developing and strengthening the collaborative relationship between filmmakers and financiers. The firm recently inked a deal with Universal Pictures for a three-year distribution deal that will cover a minimum of six pictures produced and financed by Cross Creek Pictures.

The company fully finances its films through its private equity fund, tax incentives and international sales. The goal is to finance up to five films a year with ranging budgets. The company currently has more than 10 projects in various stages of development, including Black Mass, which Russell Gerwitz (Inside Man) is adapting from a book of the same title and tells the true story of an unholy alliance between the FBI and the Boston Irish mob led by James “Whitey” Bulger; the comedy Bathing Suits,”written by Buck Henry; McQueen, a Steve McQueen biopic written by James Gray and starring Jeremy Renner; the crime drama Delivering Gen, written by Kurt Sutter; and the untitled Colin Firth and Emily Blunt project.

Cross Creek’s first production, Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, grossed approximately $330 million worldwide. The company most recently opened George Clooney’s The Ides of March, which premiered to great acclaim at the Venice Film Festival and was released in October, 2011 by Sony Pictures; and “The Woman in Black” starring Daniel Radcliffe, released by CBS Films.

ABOUT MOMENTUM PICTURES AND ALLIANCE FILMS

Alliance Films, Inc. is one of the top five international independent filmed entertainment companies in the world. A leading multinational distributor, co-financier and producer of filmed entertainment, its member companies, Alliance Films and Alliance VivaFilm (Canada); Momentum Pictures (UK) and Aurum Productions (Spain), offer integrated delivery of content in all media.

Strategic partnerships includes exclusive distribution rights with Relativity Media in Canada and UK, Focus Features, The Weinstein Company, CBS Films and Newmarket Films in Canada, as well as ongoing relationships with Summit, FilmNation, Newmarket, Exclusive Media, IM Global, Mandate, Wild Bunch, Constantin Films, EuropaCorp and Nu Image in all 3 territories.

On the production front, strategic partnerships include: a feature film co-production and acquisitions deal with Italy’s Medusa Film; a first-look deal with Iain Canning and Emile Sherman’s See-Saw Films, which yielded the critically acclaimed THE KING’S SPEECH and SHAME by Steve McQueen; the production joint venture with IM Global, Automatik run by Brian Kavanaugh-Jones which is responsible for the upcoming WELCOME TO THE PUNCH; and a five-picture deal with PARANORMAL ACTIVITY producers Oren Peli, Jason Blum and Steven Schneider with titles that include the recent James Wan release INSIDIOUS and Barry Levinson’s upcoming THE BAY.

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