Hammer Films Bray Studios Faces Demolition

Bray Studios - considered the spiritual home of cult British films and the home of Hammer Film Productions for years - could be turned flattened and turned into homes, unless a new campaign to save it succeeds.

Earlier this month, the Maidenhead Advertiser reported that current owners the Bray Management Company says the the operation - set to celebrate its 60th anniversary this year - is struggling to keep up with technological advancements.

Once the home for Hammer Film Productions, a planning application was recently submitted to the Royal Borough for repairs to Grade II listed Down Place, the site’s central building. The application notes that the studios, formerly used to provide offices and facilities in connection with the film business, have been hit hard by the economic downturn and are no longer a viable business - and hinted at plans to turn the historic site into housing.

Down Place was originally bought by Hammer Film Productions for use in their horror films, and then was gradually enlarged to become the studios that exist now. Films shot there include The Mummy, The Curse of Frankenstein, the Dracula film series and many more.

Other films and television shows have used the studios down the years, including a number of shows produced by Gerry Anderson such as Space:1999 and for effects work on various Doctor Who stories such as Frontier in Space and The Invisible Enemy.

The studios were sold in November 1970, but are still in use for recording, but, as a result of the current recession, faces stiff competition for business from nearby Pinewood Studios and elsewhere.

The plans to level the site for housing came to light in an application to replace the roof and windows of Down Place which were discussed and approved at a Bray Parish Council meeting earlier this month. The documents discussed revealed a further application is likely for extensive work to convert the site into housing.

Fans of Hammer Films and British film history have moved swiftly to highlight the threat, starting a Facebook campaign group, blog and Twitterfeed to raise awareness about the studios' plight,

"We quickly must look at the question of what can be done to help save the Studio," urges campaign organiser and Hammer Films expert Robert Simpson.

"In the first instance we have to assume that a huge volume of cash is needed - Down Place itself is in an unhealthy state of repair. It needs a large amount of work done if the Grade II listed building is to be preserved.

"...According to the information released Bray Studios is no longer viable as a business model - though we would suggest that the Studios need new capital investment to upgrade the equipment and allow it to compete once again," he continues. "The present owners clearly have no intention or desire to do that. Instead they see the chance for a quick profit in residential accommodation that will unburden them of their responsibility. Bray Management Ltd looks at the studios as property rather than a cultural landmark and facility.

"We are open to ideas and suggestions, and ways of raising funds to keep the studios alive and within the film industry," he says, appealing to Hammer Films fans and the wider British film community for support. "We want to maintain its historic integrity, and allow it to flourish. We want it to remain distinctive.

"Perhaps investors can be found with millions to spare on developing, upgrading and protecting the site? Perhaps there is a way we can find for a stay of execution allowing a campaign to build and find the resources before the site is compromised.

"...Bray Studios is a true independent studio space, and some fine examples of British film and television have been made here. Don't let that be destroyed."

Save Bray Studios Campaign

• Save Bray Studios Facebook Campaign Group

• Campaign Blog: braystudios.blogspot.com

• TwitterFeed: http://www.twitter.com/braystudios

Bray Studios Web Links

• Bray Studios: The Studio Tour
Unofficial guide to Bray Studios and its history

• David Rattigan's Bray Studio Guide

Dan Dare Film: Latest News

(UPDATED: Steve Holland over on Bear Alley has discovered the mentioned Cinemas-Online item about a possible Dan Dare film is not a new item about the project - it was first posted in 2005. The story below has been updated to reflect this. My apologies, but there was no obvious date on the page).

Development on a Dan Dare movie is now at script stage - and actor Sam Worthington, star of films such as the new Clash of the Titans and Avatar - is being considered for what is probably a key role.

It has been a month since we first reported on rumours of new attempt to get a Dan Dare movie off the ground, but the Dan Dare Corporation has made little comment on stories across the web, which began when reviews site Pajaba reported that British-born actor Sam Worthington has been cast as the lead in a Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future film.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Since then, Worthington, who is on board for another comics-to-film project, The Last Days of American Crime, based on the Radical Publishing series by Rick Remender, has confirmed his interest. In a video interview for MTV he confirmed he was involved, but stopped short of explaining his role.

Interestingly, he referenced Grant Morrison as writer - which could either be a mistake on the actor's part, as he might also be referring to the most recent Dare reboot by Garth Ennis - or a deliberate reference to Dare, Morrison's re-telling of the Dan Dare mythos for Revolver in the 1980s, drawn by Rian Hughes. (Hughes was reportedly attached to an earlier attempt to make a Dan Dare film, directed by Ridley Scott).

"We're seeing how they're going to develop it and where they want it to go," Worthington said. "I'm at that stage now where I want to do movies where I get my $16 worth ... Something like Dan Dare, there was something in the reboot by Grant Morrison that was amazing."

Since Worthington seems well versed in comics and characters, it seems possible the mention of Grant Morrison may not be the mistake MTV thinks it is in its reporting.

A new Dan Dare film has been "in development" for some time. Back in 2005, website CinemasOnline reported on a possible Dan Dare film project, which the Dan Dare Corporation, producers of the Dan Dare animated series back in 2001, said was at script stage.

The aim was to feature live actors superimposed over computer generated backgrounds. Coincidentally perhaps, this is the technique that ATV planned for their aborted 1980 Dan Dare television series, electronically keying actors over a drawn comic strip background, and which has perhaps been used most successfully on the big screen for films such as the 2004 SF feature Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow', which was shot digitally in just one studio against a blue screen.

CinemasOnline reported the movie is being represented by of Hollywood's biggest agents, which DDC chairman Colin Frewin counts as a 'real success'. But it would appear development stalled, so perhaps the new project will be entirely different.

With the 60th anniversary of Eagle this week, let's hope some official announcement about a Dan Dare film is not too far off.

Chris Evans Cast as Captain America?

The Hollywood Reporter is suggesting that actor Chris Evans has been cast as Captain American in the upcoming film featuring the famous Marvel character. (This does not of course refer to the Radio 2 DJ of the same name, the former husband of Doctor Who star Billie Piper!). Both Marvel and representatives of the actor have so far refused to comment. Evans of course stared as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch in the two recent Fantastic Four movies.

It is planned that the Captain American film will be shot in Britain and is set to be called The First Avenger: Captain America. An Avengers movie is due in 2012.

Meanwhile, there are story developments aplenty for Captain America in Panini UK' s Marvel Legends title.....

Dan Dare Movie in the works?

(via Bleeding Cool): Comics and entertainment web site Bleeding Cool has picked up on a report on reviews site Pajaba that British-born actor Sam Worthington has been cast as the lead in a new film -- Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future.

Worthington's most recent project, Avatar, may be familiar with our readers: he also stars in the soon-to-be-released Clash of the Titans remake, pictured above.

Before we get too excited, Pajaba's source - the anonymous "Hollywood Cog" - would appear to be someone working at a Hollywood casting agency. Web site CHUD, commenting on casting rumours for Spider-Man 4 last year, notes: "The Hollywood Cog is privy to lots of stuff, and he reports every bit of it. I bet that most of what he reports is 'true' in the broader sense - an agent did say that so-and-so was up for a part - but he's reporting decontextualized office gossip."

Whether the actual casting report is true or not, the story does suggest a Dan Dare feature film, based on "the most successful comic property in the history of the UK" may be in the works - although there have been many rumours of Dan Dare feature films before, including one directed by Ridley Scott with designs by Rian Hughes.

Picking up the rumour, film magazine Empire notes Pajiba’s sources have been spot on about several stories, so they’re inclined to believe a film incarnation may be in discussion, "even if the movie itself vanishes into a development wormhole|.

The animated Dan Dare series - shot in CGI and the work of Dan Dare copyright holders the Dan Dare Corporation - may well have prompted this latest rumour as film studios like Warner Brothers, who are apparently producing the film, race to duplicate the success of James Cameron's Avatar.

Pajaba says the project has been 'slow to develop' - which could imply the studio is struggling to pick the right 'Dan Dare' setting for the movie: the fabulous but scientifically inaccurate original created by Frank Hampson and Marcus Morris for Eagle, complete with the Mekon and life on Venus; Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes bitter satire, Dare, from the 1980s; or even the most recent re-imagining by Garth Ennis and Gary Erskine.

While Dan Dare remains a rumour, as we previously reported a film based on another Frank Hampson-created Eagle comic strip - Road of Courage, the story of Jesus - is in the works as an animated project from Bill Melandez Productions.

News Stories elsewhere:

• Pajaba: Sam Worthington Signs On to Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future

• Bleeding Cool: Avatar Star Sam Worthington Is... Dan Dare?