Eddie Izzard's Doctor Jekyll Gets U.S. Release Date

Doctor Jekyll will open in theaters and on demand beginning August 2, 2024.

By Russ Burlingame

Doctor Jekyll, the adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 19th Century novella of the same name, will bring Hammer Film Productions back to movie theaters in less than two months. The studio today announced that the movie, which stars Suzy Eddie Izzard in the title role, will hit theaters in the U.S. on August 2. Directed by Joe Stephenson (presumably no relation), the movie also stars Scott Chambers, Lindsay Duncan, Simon Callow, Jonathan Hyde, Morgan Watkins, Robyn Cara, Isabella Inchbald, Tony Jayawardena. Doctor Jekyll was written by Dan Kelly-Mulhern.

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.

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."

Here's the film's offical synopsis: 

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Hammer Films invites you to screen Doctor Jekyll, a new adaptation of the classic tale from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella starring Eddie Izzard. Directed by Joe Stephenson (Midas Man), Doctor Jekyll is a slow-burn gothic horror that delves into themes of duality, concocting a surprising mix of dark humor and flashes of camp within a twisted fairytale. The film also stars Scott Chambers, Simon Callow, Lindsay Duncan, Jonathan Hyde, Morgan Watkins and Robyn Cara. 

Doctor Jekyll will open in theaters and on demand beginning August 2, 2024.

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