HELLRAISER, based on the cult franchise, is about to be reborn on the small screen, courtesy of Sonar Entertainment, which is co-developing with Eric Gardner’s Panacea Ent.
For those unfamiliar, HELLRAISER focuses on a puzzle box that opens a gateway to the Hell-like realm of the Cenobites, an order of formerly human monsters who harvest human souls to torture in sadomasochistic experiments. The leader of the Cenobites is referred to as Pinhead, whose visage has been littered across the horror genre culture. Even if you haven’t seen the films, you surely know the face.
This news fits in line with the trend of horror-themed shows hitting the airwaves of late, particularly shows like SUPERNATURAL and the recent hit AMERICAN HORROR STORY, which I thought was brilliant. I’m not sure how I feel about a HELLRAISER show, as it’s a pretty dark tale, involving Hell, demons, and of course, torture.
The newly appointed chief executive of Sonar entertainment, Stewart Till, said “I’ve spent more time in film than in television, and I see that a lot of values of film, which are great writers, great directors, are becoming more and more relevant in television.”
“The gap between an O.K. show and a great show is getting bigger and bigger and our obsession going forward will be to find high quality shows that people really want,” said Till. “If you look at our slate, you’ll see shows that have either a great brand name like ‘King Tut’ or ‘Hellraiser’ that arrive with a recognition, a build-in marketing platform and/or a great writer like ‘MPH’ with Steven E. De Souza.”
HELLRAISER is still in early development at this stage. Stay tuned for updates.