Hammer is Back in 'Black'
We just received word that Hammer Films, the newly reborn incarnation of the legendary British film studio, has optioned the film rights to Susan Hill's bestselling ghost novel The Woman in Black. Jane Goldman (who scripted the film adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Stardust, as well as Stardust director Matthew Vaughn's upcoming take on the comic book Kick-Ass) is writing the screenplay for James Watkins (who helmed Eden Lake, and Warner Brothers' upcoming Methuselah) to direct. Hammer President & CEO Simon Oakes made the annnouncement today.
According to the press release, "The story follows a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps, who is ordered to travel to a remote village and sort out a recently deceased client's papers. As he works alone in the client's isolated house, Kipps begins to uncover tragic secrets, his unease growing when he glimpses a mysterious woman dressed only in black. Receiving only silence from the locals, Kipps is forced to uncover the true identity of the Woman in Black on his own, leading to a desperate race against time when he discovers her true intent."
I gotta admit, I was really only aware of The Woman in Black through its stage adaptation (a poster for which can be seen above). The play's apparently run forever in London, and the story's become so popular that it's taught in English schools. So it's no wonder that Hammer, which has, once again, set its sights on making English horror famous throughout the world, should want to tackle it. And with Watkins and Goldman -- who's worn her genre-loving heart on her sleeve ever since penning both volumes of The X-Files Book of the Unexplained way back when -- adapting the novel, they've a good chance of doing so.
