It was back in 2014 that Clive Barker talked up his Hellraiser revival, a loose reboot said to follow the creator of the Cenobite-shuttling Lament Configuration puzzle box. Unfortunately, his script languished under the troubled umbrella of producer Bob Weinstein and another sequel—the execrable Hellraiser: Judgement—emerged to further taint the gory, self-serious franchise. Now, pins poking from his head, comes The Dark Knight scribe David S. Goyer, who Deadline reports will shepherd the franchise’s rebirth for Spyglass Media Group.
The project is the first to come from Gary Barber’s relaunched studio, which is said to be fast-tracking its “loyal, yet evolved reimagining” of the original 1987 film. Goyer will both produce and write the reboot, which he’s hoping will manifest as something “dark and visceral.”
“I’ve been a fan of Clive’s work since the original Books Of Blood paperbacks and The Hellbound Heart novella,” he said. “Having the chance to reimagine Pinhead and the Cenobites for a new audience is a nightmare-come-true. Gary is a true fan as well and we’re committed to making something dark and visceral.”
Dark and visceral is good, and Goyer’s straight-faced style is a much better fit for Hellraiser’s gut-spewing sadism than it was for the DC universe, as evidenced by the blowback met by his Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. After all, we affectionately described the Hellraiser franchise as “the humorless art student who wears a dog collar and black lipstick and prefers staying home and reading poetry to getting wasted at keg parties.”
Now, will someone please call Doug Bradley? No more fake Pinheads.