The rights to the HELLRAISER franchise are officially going to be safe in the hands of franchise creator Clive Barker. A few months ago, we shared the news that Barker had filed a lawsuit to terminate the 1986 transfer of his rights to HELLRAISER, and now court papers show that the HELLRAISER rights will officially be Barker's as of December 19, 2021.
Written and directed by Barker (based on his novella The Hellbound Heart), the original HELLRAISER (watch it HERE) was produced and distributed by New World Pictures. New World Pictures was later purchased, along with the HELLRAISER rights, by Larry Kuppin of Park Avenue Entertainment. There was some confusion over whether or not Barker would be able to terminate the rights, depending on if his contract was construed under U.S. or U.K. law, but all of that was figured out and a settlement was made with Park Avenue Entertainment. If only things could be worked out so easily in the FRIDAY THE 13TH copyright case.
U.S. copyright law says that the author of an original work can terminate a transfer of rights thirty-five years after the transfer was made.
The original HELLRAISER has the following synopsis:
From beyond the Outer Darkness. From the blackest corners of a family's past. From the nightmarish realm of the imagination comes Hellraiser. An old family home holds untold mysteries… and horrors for Larry Cotton and his wife, Julia. Floorboards that rattle, rooms that absorb blood. The heavy and haunting air of things long past and better left forgotten. Slowly, the old family home begins to swallow the Cottons. And, there is no escape… for secret alliances and murderous seductions have been made which will propel the Cotton family into the horrifying and shocking conclusion of HELLRAISER.
Barker has already signed on to executive produce a Hellraiser TV series for HBO, so that project is in good shape. It's not clear if Barker has given his blessing to the new HELLRAISER feature that's in the works at Spyglass Media, but if that can get into production before the rights revert to Barker at the end of 2021 they could make the movie regardless.
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