EXCLUSIVE: Broadway producer John Gore has fulfilled a long-held desire to launch a British studio, appointing Hilary Strong CEO and unveiling first projects including the Joan Collins-starring Wallis Simpson biopic.
John Gore Studios Ltd comes more than a year after Gore, a 22-time Tony Award winner, acquired iconic British Dracula outfit Hammer Films and several weeks after it bought Kaleidoscope parent KFilm.
Headquartered in London with offices in New York, the studio will make films and TV shows. “Through the strategic acquisition and restoration of film libraries, the acquisition of heritage intellectual property and a commitment to innovative production, John Gore Studios will uphold the rich traditions of the British film and television industry with a future-facing creative vision,” it said.
Gore Studios said it will adopt a similar approach to the John Gore Organization, which owns the likes of Broadway Across America, Broadway.com and The Broadway Channel. Gore’s credits include Oklahoma!, Dear Evan Hansen and Hello, Dolly!.
The company’s first signature hire is Strong, a veteran IP creative who used to run Agatha Christie Ltd and was instrumental in putting together the high-profile deal to turn multiple Christie novels into BBC dramas. She was previously working at International Literary Properties, where she had been running UK and Europe for three and a half years. Strong is joined by Chief Acquisitions Officer Jonathan Lack, Creative Development Head Jamie Anderson and Head of Brand and Communications Ellen Ray. Gore takes up the Executive Chairman post.
Gore said he is “delighted to be leaning into my other great passion, film and TV,” while praising Strong’s “unrivalled track record working with the best of British IP.” “We share a commitment to authenticity and meaningful IP, and I’m incredibly excited about the future we’ll shape together,” he added.
Strong said: “Together with our uniquely talented team, we are forging a new and dynamic entertainment studio which combines our shared passion for preserving the rich legacy of our media heritage, whilst working with best of breed talent to create new and exciting productions.”
Wallis Simpson biopic
Joan Collins (left) and Wallis Simpson. Image: Jeff Spicer / Santi Visalli/Getty
John Gore Studios is behind two features, the first being Mike Newell‘s The Bitter End [working title], the Collins-starring biopic of the American woman who married King Edward VIII and upended the British monarchy. The film will tell the “shocking untold story” of Simpson’s final years, Gore Studios said. One of the most notorious outsiders to have crossed paths with the monarchy, Simpson was played by Lia Williams in The Crown and Eve Best in The King’s Speech.
“I am thrilled about the challenge of playing this iconic woman in a previously untold story and to be in John Gore Studios’ initial roster of what I’m sure will be a very successful endeavour,” said Collins.
John Gore is also behind Casey Walker’s Ithaqua, a horror movie set in 1800s Canada that sees the British survivors of a remote trade outpost plagued by an ancient evil that leaves its victims with an insatiable hunger for flesh. The pic stars Luke Hemsworth, Kevin Durand, Michael Pitt, Craig Lauzon and Leenah Robinson and is being made under the Hammer banner.
Ithaqua will introduce Hammer’s first new monster in 60 years. It speaks to what Gore wants to do with the Hammer brand and comes after he EP’d a Sky documentary on the iconic horror studio. Gore’s other recent purchases include Silver Salt Restoration.
