Eddie Izzard’s Doctor Jekyll Trailer Released

Hammer Horror is back, with the trailer for Doctor Jekyll, a new film starring comedian and actor Eddie Izzard in the title role of Nina Jekyll. Also starring Scott Chambers, Lindsay Duncan, Simon Callow, Jonathan Hyde (there’s an awkward coincidence), Morgan Watkins, and Robyn Cara, the film is described as “a fresh, horror-filled take on a timeless tale, this adaptation promises to send shivers down your spine.”

Hammer, the notorious B-movie studio, has been a shadow of its former self for years, having been reduced pretty much to an inactive brand until an investor came along in 2008 and bought it up, creating movies like Let Me In and The Lodge in the years since. In August, though, came an announcement that they were under new ownership and had an aggressive slate of upcomign releases. With Doctor Jekyll, it seems the studio is making a real effort to promote its own name — “Hammer” appears prominently in the trailer and on promotional art for the film — and maybe to make a more high-profile return to the mainstream.

For Izzard’s part, this is the first role she has played since revealing in May that she will go by Suzy, althoguh she remains professionally known as Eddie Izzard, since that is the name she made famous. Most of Izzard’s prior acting roles have been as characters who presented as male (including in the superhero comedy Mystery Men and the adaptation of Image Comics’s Powers), but she has worn women’s clothing on stage for her entire comedy career, saying that she identifies as genderfluid and uses transgender as an “umbrella term.”

“There’s another name I’m going to add in as well, which is Suzy, which I’ve wanted to be since I was 10,” Izzard told The Political Party” podcast in May. “So, I’m going to be Suzy Eddie Izzard. That’s how I’m going to roll so people can choose what they want.”

You can see it below.

It is not clear whether Doctor Jekyll was made with Izzard in mind, but director Joe Stephenson has previously said that a trans version of Dr. Jekyll was part of the appeal of this version, but not necessarily in the way audiences might expect.

“There’ve been over 100 cinematic adaptations of [Robert Louis] Stevenson’s novella, but there has never been a trans Dr. Jekyll,” Stephenson said. “There seem to be some assumptions that because Nina is a trans character, we are somehow going to make it about gender. That is not the case; the themes of our film are true to the original work.”

Variety reported in August that British theater producer John Gore had acquired Hammer Films and Studios, and that he was aiming to revitalize the brand. 

“Ever since I was a young boy, I’ve been enchanted by the magic of Hammer Films,” Gore said at the time. “Its stories, its characters and its unique place in British heritage and cinema have been a source of inspiration and wonder. Today, as I stand at the helm of this iconic studio, my commitment is twofold: to celebrate and preserve the unmatched legacy of Hammer and to usher in a new era of storytelling that captivates audiences worldwide. With significant investment and a fresh creative vision, we will ensure that the spirit of Hammer not only endures but thrives in the modern age.”

Doctor Jekyll will be in theaters on October 27.