eOne, Hammer sign first-look deal

The arrangement covers production, financing and distribution. London-based president of film production Xavier Marchand will oversee the deal for eOne. 

eOne will distribute Hammer films in Canada, the UK, Benelux, Spain and Australia and New Zealand.

Sales arm eOne Films International under Harold van Lier will handle rights in remaining territories.

Dasym-backed Hammer was founded in 1934 and is in resurgent form, scoring recent hits with horror smash The Woman In Black and Let Me In.

It was part of the Exclusive Media fold before that company fell apart earlier this year. Hammer executives are working on horror sequel Woman In Black: Angel Of Death, a co-production with eOne.

“We’re thrilled to extend our partnership with Simon Oakes, Marc Schipper and the innovative Hammer team,” said Marchand. “As we continue to expand our production business, it’s rewarding to build on our shared success with Woman In Black and attach one of the industry’s most sought-after independent producers to our global network in order to access great projects in new ways.

“It’s very exciting for our teams around the world to add crowd-pleasers to the lineup in our territories and add them to our international sales slate for our partners around the globe.” 

“We’re delighted to have eOne as our distribution, financing and production partner, which provides us with wide global reach while maintaining the creative and commercial flexibility of an independent,” said Oakes and Schipper.

“This deal, which we view as a rare opportunity for an independent producer, will allow Hammer to significantly increase its production output.”