Hammer to produce feature version of The Woman In Black

Hammer Films has optioned feature rights to Susan Hill’s bestselling ghost story The Woman In Black and will produce with Talisman Films.

Exclusive Film Distribution, Hammer’s sibling in the Exclusive Media Group (EMG) stable, is handling worldwide sales and will take the project to EFM.

Jane Goldman, who wrote the screenplay to the eagerly anticipated Kick-Ass, is adapting the novel and James Watkins will direct.

The story follows a young lawyer who travels to a remote village to sort through a recently deceased client’s papers. There he uncovers tragic secrets and encounters the mysterious woman in black.

Hammer Films president and CEO Simon Oakes and Richard Jackson of Talisman Films will produce, with EMG co-chairmen Nigel Sinclair and Guy East serving as executive producers for Hammer.

Roy Lee and Doug Davison’s Vertigo Entertainment are also attached and Lee is taking as an executive producer role.

“Woman In Black is an iconic British horror story, and so makes a perfect match for Hammer,” Oakes said. “Jane Goldman has written a terrific screenplay, and with James Watkins at the helm we feel that this feature adaptation of Susan Hill’s classic novel will be both dynamic and terrifying.”