Director Patrick Lussier On The Hellraiser Remake: We're Not Retelling Clive Barker's Story
As with any remake of a beloved film, there is naturally some concern about the remake of Clive Barker's Hellraiser. So much of what makes the original great is not only Barker's direction, but his passion for material, which he developed first as a book, The Hellbound Heart, before turning it into the 1987 film. Fortunately, this isn't something lost on Patrick Lussier and Todd Farmer, the two men put in charge of the remake last October.
This afternoon I attended the press junket for Lussier and Farmer's new film, Drive Angry 3D and sitting down with them in a 0ne-on-one interview we discussed the project at length. For starters, the pair has two other projects currently in development - Halloween 3D and Condition Dead - and while Hellraiser is most likely going to be their next venture, they also assured me that they would be ready to go with Halloween tomorrow should someone ask. At the same time, they aren't even sure what the future of the project is, Lussier saying, "Given what that is, is the window sort of closed for that? It’s all up to the people that are way above our pay grade."
Following that, the discussion turned to the Hellraiser remake, which they understand irks some people in the wrong way. Asking what they would say to concerned fans, Lussier outlined the difference between certain horror remakes, including their own My Bloody Valentine, and explained that they aren't planning to retell Clive's story.
With that in mind I was naturally curious if that meant Pinhead and the other cenobites would be in the film. While slow to say it (he preceded his answer with a long "Ummmmmm"), Lussier did say yes. The reason for the hesitance? As Farmer explained, "Some things we just want to keep as a surprise." They did, however, confirm that they have begun the character design process.
Stay tuned for my full interview with Patrick Lussier and Todd Farmer tomorrow, where we talk about Drive Angry 3D, Nicolas Cage's hair, and getting beaten up by Amber Heard.
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Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.