Clive Barker’s Hellraiser to get the reboot treatment from David S. Goyer

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Sooner or later, every franchise gets the reboot treatment, and the latest to board the reboot train is Clive Barker's HELLRAISER. A reboot of the 1987 horror classic has been in the works for over a decade in various hands, but this time around it will be David Goyer, the screenwriter behind MAN OF STEEL, BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE, and BLADE: TRINITY, who will be leading the charge of the reboot.

HELLRAISER followed a puzzle box which opened a doorway to an alternate dimension occupied by creatures known as Cenebites who subject humans to extreme sadomasochistic experiments. David Goyer will be penning the script as well as producing the reboot for Spyglass Media Group. Spyglass CEO David Barber said, "Clive and I go back more than 30 years together. For generations, his brilliantly twisted and imaginative 'Hellraiser' haunted the minds of moviegoers with its searing imagery of Pinhead. David is the perfect storyteller to continue Clive’s vision for a new theatrical version of 'Hellraiser.'" In his own statement, David Goyer added:

I’ve been a fan of Clive’s work since the original Books of Blood paperbacks and ‘The Hellbound Heart’ novella. 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.

It's been said that Spyglass will be fast-tracking development on the reboot, so it's likely that we'll be hearing more about the project before too long. The HELLRAISER franchise would go on to spawn nine sequels of varying quality, but recent years have seen the franchise dip considerably, so I'm certainly not adverse to a reboot; I'm just not convinced that David Goyer is the right person for the job.