HBO has secured a deal to develop a Hellraiser television series, based on the popular and classic horror movie franchise.
Coming with the new deal also some top-notch talent behind the project. David Gordon Green, who helped bring respect back to the Halloween franchise with the 2018 sequel, will direct the pilot and several more initial episodes. 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).
The rights package for the deal was put together last June. The idea is to create an elevated continuation and expansion of the well-established Hellraiser mythology and it will not function as a remake. The centerpiece remains Pinhead, the 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 a balance between good and evil. The offer you your desires, whether it be pleasure or pain, but with heightened results. The story is based on Clive Barker’s novella “The Hellbound Heart.”
A remake was announced a few weeks back that’s set for a theatrical release but this project is not released to the film project in development at Spyglass, which is still moving forward. David Gordon Green is a great get for the series as he has developed a diverse filmography. Green has gone from stoner comedies with Pineapple Express to inspiring dramas like Stronger before pivoting to genre filmmaking with revamping the John Carpenter horror classic Halloween. The film cost $10 million to make and ultimately grossed $255 million worldwide. He signed on to shoot the sequels Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends and is currently in post-production on Halloween Kills.
