Carry On film franchise to return
According to a newspaper report, the Carry On film franchise is to be revived.
The Independent reports that work is under way on Carry On Again, set to be the 32nd film in the long-running series.
There have been a number of previous attempts to resurrect the franchise - which started with 1958's Carry On Sergeant, and finished with the much derided Carry On Columbus in 1992 - but all have fallen through.
Notably Carry On London failed to materialise in 2008 due to funding problems amidst the financial crisis.
However, Carry On Films Limited claim the new project is "100 per cent" happening, with the film due to be released in 2017.
Producers are said to be looking for an all-new cast of comedy performers to revive the series.
Carry On Films managing director Nigel Gordon-Stewart says a script will be completed by April, ready for filming at the series' home of Pinewood Studios, in May 2016.
The project is backed by Steve James, the son of legendary Carry On actor Sid James with John Altman as the composer, and Jeremy Thomas - the nephew of Carry On director Gerald Thomas - acting as producer.
Nigel Gordon-Stewart told the newspaper: "I am 100 per cent sure this will work, we will not dash the fans' hopes", adding that funding had already been secured via an "international group of financiers".
With most of the Carry On regulars now dead, The Independent reports that the aim is to cast unknown talent in the new film. The producers point out the new incarnations will not be modelled on the original actors' often repeated characteristics.
The original films made stars of - and exploited the existing status of - some of Britain's greatest comic acting talents. Regular stars throughout the films included Bernard Bresslaw, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, Charles Hawtrey, Barbara Windsor, Peter Butterworth, June Whitfield and Terry Scott.
Jeremy Thomas says he hopes Carry On Again will stimulate interest in the older films when it is released, noting: "The Carry Ons are very much in the British psyche. People like to laugh. But it will have to be very funny; they have a lot to live up to."
Nigel Gordon-Stewart adds: "People have expectations and if you get it wrong, that'll be that. It will be Carry On Columbus all over again, which we do not want."