The Hellraiser reboot has found a home! It has been announced that Hulu just scooped up the Spyglass Media film, which will be helmed by The Night House director David Bruckner.
The reboot will be yet another adaptation of Clive Barker’s "The Hellbound Heart", which Barker adapted himself into the 1987 original film. In the movie, a woman discovers the newly resurrected, partially formed, body of her brother-in-law. She starts killing for him to revitalize his body so he can escape the demonic beings that are pursuing him after he escaped their sadistic underworld. The sadistic beings are called Cenobites and, despite not really have a ton of screentime, their presence turned Hellraiser into one of the most notable horror films of the 1980s and they begin to take center stage as the franchise expanded across several sequels. Lead Cenobite, eventually becoming known as Pinhead to the franchise's legion of fans, was played by Doug Bradley and he would ultimately become the face of the property as its popularity grew.
A Hellraiser remake/reboot has been the topic of discussion for quite some time over the years. In 2019, it was revealed that David S. Goyer was involved with a remake. By 2020, we learned that David Bruckner, who directed the Netflix film The Ritual as well as the upcoming The Night House, would be helming. It’s unclear at the moment if Goyer is still involved here, but Bruckner is still in the director’s chair, working with a script from his Night House writers Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski.
The Hulu Hellraiser reboot isn’t the only Hellraiser-related material on the way. There’s also a completely separate Hellraiser TV series headed to HBO Max, with David Gordon Green directing the pilot and several other episodes. Michael Dougherty and Mark Verheiden are handling writing duties, and Hellraiser creator Clive Barker is on board to executive produce. It's unclear how much involvement – if any – Barker has with the remake but it certainly looks like we're getting a lot of Pinhead in the near future.
Do YOU think Hulu is the right home for the Hellraiser reboot?