Pain has a new face: Jamie Clayton has been confirmed to star as the Hell Priest in the new Hellraiser reboot movie.
Director David Bruckner has already wrapped filming the Spyglass and Hulu production, but word of Clayton’s casting has only now been revealed. The L Word: Generation Q actress is joined by Odessa A’zion (Grand Army), Brandon Flynn (13 Reasons Why), Goran Visnjic (The Boys), Drew Starkey (Love, Simon), Adam Faison (Everything’s Gonna Be Okay), Aoife Hinds (Normal People), Selina Lo (Boss Level), and Hiam Abbass (Succession).
Also onboard is Hellraiser creator and the original film’s writer/director, Clive Barker. “Having seen some of the designs from David Bruckner’s new Hellraiser film, they pay homage to what the first film created, but then take it to places it’s never been before,” Barker said in a statement (via Deadline). “This is a Hellraiser on a scale that I simply didn’t expect. David and his team are steeped in the story’s mythology, but what excites me is their desire to honor the original even as they revolutionize it for a new generation.
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In charge of that revolutionizing effort alongside Bruckner are screenwriters Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski (The Night House), working off a story by David S. Goyer. Goyer is also producing alongside Barker, Mar Toberoff, and Keith Levine. “From the moment I first read The Hellbound Heart, Clive Barker became one of my literary heroes,” said Baker, referring to the original book that introduced the Cenobites. “His work is transgressive and completely redefined the horror genre. Under the guiding hand of David Bruckner, we’re going back to the source and taking our inspiration from that original novella.”
Clayton’s casting as the Hell Priest, known by the crew-created sobriquet Pinhead, marks a gender swap for the cult horror character. The leader of extra-dimensional demons called the Cenobites, Pinhead has appeared in 10 films (four cinematic, six direct-to-home-release), collecting human souls to torture from 1987 to 2018. This 11 full-length feature is set to debut on Hulu sometime in 2022, just in time for the franchise’s 35th anniversary.
Barker’s return to the series comes as he has regained the rights to Hellraiser following a legal victory last year. As of December 19th, 2021, the US rights will revert back to their original creator. No word yet on how that legal manevour or the fact that Hulu is releasing this movie reboot will impact the Hellraiser series HBO was working on as of April 2020.