Hammer is looking to bring Sci-Fi legend Professor Quatermass back to TV, studio CEO Simon Oakes has told seenit.co.uk.
Created by Nigel Kneale, Quatermass first appeared in 1953’s The Quatermass Experiment and led the British Rocket Group’s fight against hostile alien forces.
The character last appeared on TV in a 2005 live remake which aired on BBC Four.
On Wednesday Oakes said: “we are looking at rebooting Quatermass which we own the rights to. We’re at the very early stages of that. We have a fantastic writer but we can’t announce because we’re still in negotiations.”
He revealed that the character was being developed “for television”.
“It’s about rebooting the character, he’s got certain characteristics which remain the DNA of Quatermass – who he is, what he is – but the Rocket Group we can’t do now.”
“What we’re saying is ‘what would Bernard Quatermass be today?’”
Asked if audiences could expect a Sherlock style updating, Oakes said: “We’re really at the early stages of development.”
This month saw the publication of Hammer’s first original novel in partnership with Random House and the studio is working with international distributors to restore classic titles ahead of a Blu-ray release.
Oakes said the studio is also interested in working with a big name computer games developer to create a Hammer related title.
“I think the question is whether it’s a Hammer generic game or whether it’s tied to a specific film,” he said.
“It requires just a spark of imagination from one of the big games developers to say, ‘look, we think Hammer is sufficiently strong as a brand’ which I think it is in this country and it’s starting to get more traction in the US.”
Hammer, part of the Exclusive Media Group, is celebrating the success of its latest film The Woman In Black.
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, the movie took over $20m in its US opening weekend, securing the number 2 spot at the box office.
The film opens in the UK on February 10th. Read our review here.
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