Hammer and Overture Announce Primary Cast for ‘Let Me In’

BEVERLY HILLS, California -

- Reeves Casts the ‘Right Ones’

Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz and Oscar(R)-nominee Richard Jenkins will headline the cast of Let Me In, Matt Reeves’ adaptation of Let the Right One In, when principal photography begins this fall in New Mexico. The announcement was made today by Hammer Films Co-CEOs Simon Oakes and Nigel Sinclair, as well as Overture Films CEO Chris McGurk and COO Danny Rosett.

Director Reeves (Cloverfield) has cast Smit-McPhee (The Road) and Moretz ((500) Days of Summer) in the two lead adolescent roles of Owen and Abby for the eagerly awaited horror feature. Jenkins will play the lead adult character known as Hakan in the original film.

Based on the bestselling Swedish novel, Lat den Ratte Komma In, by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let Me In is a contemporary vampire tale about a young boy who befriends a girl new to his neighborhood. The film is a remake of the highly acclaimed Swedish film, Lat den Ratte Komma In, also known as, Let the Right One In.

Hammer acquired the remake rights to Let the Right One In at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival where the film took home the Founders Award(R) for Best Narrative Feature, and has fast-tracked the film for a November 2009 start date. The film is a Hammer Films production with a projected 2010 release in the U.S. by Overture Films. Exclusive Film Distribution is handling worldwide sales and distribution of the film.

Producing the film are Hammer’s Simon Oakes, Guy East and Nigel Sinclair and Oscar(R)-winner Donna Gigliotti. Hammer’s Alex Brunner and Tobin Armbrust will executive produce along with John Ptak, Philip Elway and Fredrik Malmberg. Overture’s Robert Kessel, EVP Production & Acquisitions, will oversee production for the studio. Swedish producers John Nordling and Carl Molinder, who produced the original film, are also involved as producers on this remake.

The Australian-born Smit-McPhee, 13, stars alongside Viggo Mortensen in The Road, a film festival favorite due out in November. He previously earned the AFI Young Actor’s Award(R) in 2007 for his role in Romulus, My Father.

Moretz, 12, will star in the much-talked-about Kick-Ass next spring and previously appeared in (500) Days of Summer and The Amityville Horror. She has been nominated each of the past three years for a Young Artist Award(R).

Jenkins first worked with Overture on The Visitor, for which he earned a Best Actor Oscar(R) nomination last year. His recent work includes Burn After Reading, Step Brothers and television’s “Six Feet Under.” He is due to star in several upcoming projects including the much-anticipated The Cabin in the Woods, Dear John and Eat, Pray, Love.

It was announced last year that Reeves will write and direct Let Me In. In addition to the box office hit Cloverfield, Reeves’ directing credits include the comedy The Pallbearer, starring David Schwimmer and Gwyneth Paltrow, and the hit television show “Felicity,” starring Keri Russell, which he co-created and executive produced along with partner J.J. Abrams.

“Kodi, Chloe, and Richard are my absolute dream cast,” says Reeves. “I couldn’t be more excited to be working with them.”

Let Me In is the first film in a two-picture co-production, financing and distribution agreement between Overture Films and Exclusive Media Group, the parent company of Hammer Films and Spitfire Pictures.

ABOUT HAMMER

Hammer is the legendary British film brand, which was originally launched in 1934 and delivered a hugely successful run of films in the 1950s including Gothic classics “Dracula” and “The Curse of Frankenstein” and Sci-Fi picture “The Quatermass Xperiment.” Hammer’s reputation became branded worldwide as ‘Hammer House of Horror.’ In the 1960s Hammer struck distribution deals with Universal, Warner Brothers, Fox and Columbia. Hammer went on to produce a huge volume of films which included such titles as “The Plague of Zombie,” “The Nanny,” “Quatermass and the Pit,” “The Devil Rides Out” and “One Million Years B.C.”

Not in production since the 1980s, the company’s brand is now being aggressively reinvigorated by Exclusive Media Group through new investment in the development and production of film, television and digital-platform content.

Hammer’s return to horror was heralded by interactive web serial “Beyond the Rave,” which was broadcast by MySpace in 12 territories in 2008. Today, Hammer has an active development slate totaling more than 25 projects across diverse genres sourced out of both Europe and the United States. Hammer recently wrapped production on “The Resident,” which stars Academy Award winner Hilary Swank and Jeffrey Dean Morgan and is directed by Antti Jokinen.

ABOUT EXCLUSIVE MEDIA GROUP (EMG)

Formed by strategic investment group Cyrte Investments in May 2008, Exclusive Media Group (EMG) (www.exclusivemedia.com) is the parent company of Spitfire Pictures and the legendary British studio, Hammer, which now has a combined share holder equity and bank facility in excess of US$100 million. The company is run by Nigel Sinclair, Guy East and Simon Oakes, with Sinclair and Oakes serving as co-chairmen and co-CEOs (out of Los Angeles and London respectively). East is president of EMG and chairman of Exclusive Film Distribution (EFD).

Under EMG, Spitfire and Hammer operate as two separate production entities with offices both in London and Los Angeles. EMG aims to produce 6-8 films per year and to acquire additional pictures for worldwide distribution through EFD, its London based subsidiary responsible for worldwide sales and distribution. The group also develops projects for television and digital platforms.

EMG has over 300 titles in the combined Hammer and Spitfire libraries and pursues an aggressive library acquisition policy. The Hammer library is noted for its remake potential and the company is in discussions with A-list writers and directors to revive and re-imagine some of its highly touted titles.

Cyrte Investments is part of Delta Lloyd Asset Management, one of the Netherlands major asset managers, which in turn is majority-owned by London Stock Exchange listed Aviva plc, one of the world’s largest insurance companies.

ABOUT OVERTURE FILMS

Overture Films (www.overturefilms.net) develops, produces, acquires, and distributes feature length, theatrical motion pictures worldwide. The studio is a wholly owned unit of Starz Media, a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Capital Group. Its affiliated companies, Anchor Bay Entertainment and Starz Entertainment, make the films available domestically to viewers via home video, premium television, Internet and other outlets.

Source: Overture Films

Adam Keen of Overture Films, +1-424-204-4144; or Alex Brunner or Melanie Kirschbaum, both of EMG, +1-310-300-9000, for Overture Films