PRODUCTIONS

The 2000s

January 2000 marked a major change for the company as it entered the 21st century. Chairman Roy Skeggs, who had been with the company since the 1960s, resigned and handed the business over to a private investment consortium which included advertising guru Charles Saatchi.

Over the next few years the company set about a new slate of proposed co-productions, and the first steps towards realising the potential of the Hammer brand in licensed merchandising.

2007 marked fifty years of Hammer horror, with various events to mark the occasion, including a restoration by the BFI of Hammer's original Dracula.

In ealry 2007 the company changed hands again, this time to a European consortium, headed by Dutch based Cyrte Investments BV. Backed by a $50million investment Hammer soon announced its return with Beyond the Rave, a co-production with MySpaceTV, unleashed via the internet in April 2008. This was swiftly followed up with the announcement of Hammer's first films for over 30 years - The Resident (co-starring veteran Hammer actor Christopher Lee) and a remake of Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In.

With the arrival of Beyond the Rave, and filming on The Resident underway Hammer has made not only its first dramatic production in nearly thirty years, but a welcome return to horror. With further plans for both film and television having been announced, Hammer has truly risen from the grave....