Hammer horror back in cinemas as owner plots stage and screen revival
The Dracula that made Hammer Films famous is back in more than 144 cinemas across Britain, and the man who bought the studio out of bankruptcy says it is only the start.
John Gore, a British theatre producer behind The Book of Mormon and Hamilton, acquired Hammer in late 2023, he told Variety. Hammer was founded in 1934 and became known for Gothic retellings of Dracula, Frankenstein and the Mummy, mostly released in the late 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s and starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.
Gore described the deal as an almost “blind purchase” out of bankruptcy. The studio was on the brink of financial collapse. Full checks on the books would have cost 10 times the price of taking it out of bankruptcy, he said.
The clearest sign of the rebuild is on screen this week. A 4K restoration of Hammer’s 1958 hit Dracula, a frame-by-frame repair and sharpening of the old film negative, opened in more than 144 British cinemas in the week of 5 October 2026. It arrives in the United States later in October under its American title, Horror of Dracula, after a premiere at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles.
That museum link runs further. Hammer and John Gore Studios are supporting the Academy Museum’s exhibition The Horror Show, which in January will celebrate Hammer’s history.
Gore has also put Hammer’s name on stage. Hammer is credited alongside Blumhouse on Paranormal Activity: A New Story, currently running in London’s West End, the capital’s main theatre district, before a transfer to Broadway next year. Gore said he chose to put Hammer rather than his American company on the billing. He called it “a taste of the future.”
The plan is to build a wider business around the old horror label. Gore has formed John Gore Studios by adding support companies to Hammer, including the purchase of London-based remastering house Silver Salt Restoration. That company had previously worked on the classic Ealing comedies.
The restoration pipeline is active. Hammer has presented its 1958 Dracula as returning for Halloween in its most complete form yet, and has confirmed The Quatermass Xperiment as the next title to be restored and re-released.
New production sits beside the archive work. John Gore Studios is producing The Return of Stanley Atwell, starring Nicholas Galitzine and Ella Purnell, from Hera Pictures. It is also producing The Duchess, a biopic of Wallis Simpson starring Joan Collins and Isabella Rossellini.
For fans, this means two tracks at once. Old Hammer titles return to cinemas in cleaned-up versions. New films and stage shows carry the Hammer name to a different audience.
