According to a report from Deadline, HBO is developing a new television series based on Clive Barker’s ‘Hellraiser’, with David Gordon Green (‘Halloween’, ‘Halloween Kills’ and ‘Halloween Ends’) attached to direct the pilot as well as many other episodes if the series is green-lit.
Per Deadline’s report:
EXCLUSIVE: HBO has made a deal to develop a series from the classic horror franchise Hellraiser, with Halloween helmer David Gordon Green set to direct the pilot and several more initial episodes that brings to the small screen for the first time the iconic pincushion-headed villain who heads a group of pasty-faced villains sent from hell, known as the Cenobites.
The series will be written by genre and action vets Mark Verheiden (Battlestar Gallactica, Daredevil, Heroes), and Michael Dougherty (X-Men United, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Trick r’ Treat). All of them will be executive producers alongside Farah Films’ Dan Farah, Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee, along with Lawrence Kuppin and David Salzman and Panacea Entertainment’s Eric Gardner. Rough House Pictures partners Green, Danny McBride Jody Hill and Brandon James round out the EP team. Farah Films exec Andrew Farah, and Adam Salzman will also serve as co-exec producers.
Lee (It) and Farah (Ready Player One) put together the rights package last June, based on the Hellraiser film franchise hatched from Clive Barker’s novella The Hellbound Heart. The idea is to create an elevated continuation and expansion of the well-established Hellraiser mythology. It is by no means a remake, but rather assumes the past mythology to be a given. The centerpiece remains Pinhead, the pin cushion-headed merciless leader of the Cenobites, the formerly humans-turned-demons that live in an extra-dimensional realm and are activated through a puzzle box called the Lament Configuration. The Cenobites come from hell to harvest human souls and keep balance between good and evil.
This of course comes on the heels of the recent announcement that Spyglass Entertainment is developing a big screen reboot of the ‘Hellraiser’ property with David Bruckner (Night House) attached to Direct from a screenplay by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski.
While the details of the Spyglass reboot are scarce at the moment, it’s encouraging to know that the HBO series will not remake the original film nor re-adapt Barker’s novella, ‘The Hellbound Heart’, and is instead going to be an expansion on the mythology.
The ‘Hellraiser’ franchise has had its share of ups and downs, especially in the hands of the Weinstein Brothers and their companies, Miramax and its genre arm Dimension Films, who have produced several direct-to-video sequels molded from original scripts that were re-written to include ‘Hellraiser’ themes and characters. There have been talks for a big screen reboot or remake circling around for years, with different creative teams coming and going on the project, including the likes of creator Clive Barker, with the project ultimately falling through, leading the studio to rush together productions on their Direct-To-Video sequels in order to secure the rights.
With the rights out of the hands of the Weinstein’s, this could be a very exciting time for ‘Hellraiser’ fans. We’re finally going to be getting films and a television series that are actually developed as ‘Hellraiser’ related from the get-go, and we could quite possibly get some quality ‘Hellraiser’ material.
Of course, not every fan is going to be happy with the upcoming projects. Given the age of the legendary Doug Bradley, it’s safe to assume that he will not be reprising his role as the Hell Priest himself in either project. Like many other fictitious characters such as James Bond, Batman, and Spider-Man, it’s more than likely that the role will be re-cast with someone younger and capable of carrying on the mantle for years to come. Personally, I’d love to see actor Paul T. Taylor return as the iconic character. Regardless of how you feel about the tenth film, ‘Hellraiser: Judgment’, there’s no denying that Taylor was a worthy successor to Doug Bradley, and his performance in that film could be considered one of the sequel’s bright spots, and besides, they could easily bring him back to the role without it being a continuation of that story. Considering that the show is supposed to be a continuation of the mythology and not a re-do, I’d really like to see Taylor get the job for the HBO series.
Until we get more information, we can only speculate. So, what do you think about this bit of news? Are you excited for the upcoming movie and television series? Who would you like to see take on the role of Pinhead? Go to our Facebook page and let us know!
You can find Deadline’s exclusive here:
HBO Makes ‘Hellraiser’ Series Development Deal; ‘Halloween’s David Gordon Green To Direct Early Eps
Don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel for every single episode of Discourse, THS LIVES! and more. Follow The Horror Syndicate on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
