Clive Barker Regains Hellraiser Rights: What It Means For The Franchise Now

After a legal battle, Hellraiser creator Clive Barker has finally reclaimed the rights to the franchise, and here’s what that means for the future. Over the decades since its 1980s inception, Hellraiser has become one of the most recognizable franchises in all of horror, and all that traces back to one man. Barker wrote the original novella The Hellbound Heart, then wrote and directed its film adaptation himself in 1987, with the Hellraiser title sticking ever since. Barker also had creative involvement with first sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser 2, easily the best follow-up.

After that though, the Hellraiser franchise has seen far more downs than ups, at least onscreen. While some compelling Hellraiser expanded universe content has arrived in the form of comic books, novels, and short stories – including material actually written or influenced by Barker himself – the movies have ranged from decent to absolutely dreadful. Barker’s absence from them is no doubt part of the reason for lack of quality, and it wasn’t necessarily always due to his not wanting to participate. In one infamous instance, Barker actually penned a Hellraiser remake script, with then studio bosses Bob and Harvey Weinstein rejecting it.

As of late 2020 though, Barker has regained control of Hellraiser. It’s a long time coming in the eyes of many, as many fans feel Barker’s watchful eye might preclude anything terrible being made. Here’s how this development might effect things going forward.

Clive Barker Regains Hellraiser: What It Means For The Franchise

Clive Barker recaptured the rights to Hellraiser using the same quirk of U.S. copyright law employed by Friday the 13th writer Victor Miller, and the estate of late Nightmare on Elm Street creator Wes Craven. After about 35 years from publication of a written work, the writer can file a motion to regain the rights within a prescribed time period. Unlike Miller though, it would be impossible to claim Barker wrote Hellraiser as a writer for hire, so no lawsuit will be tying up Hellraiser like it did Friday the 13th.

It’s important to note though that the rights Barker attained are not necessarily as all inclusive as fans might think. This ruling only applies to the U.S., meaning that rights elsewhere in the world are their own thing, subject to different copyright laws. This means that Barker would still have to make deals with those who own international rights before attaining worldwide distribution for a project. However, there’s no real way he can be shut out of anything either, as no one would bother making a Hellraiser production that can’t be released in America.

Additionally, Barker doesn’t own the existing Hellraiser sequels, only his original work. Thus, anything created for those sequels isn’t something he could make use of without permission from their respective copyright holders. However, since he does own Pinhead, Kirsty Cotton, Julia, and the basic concepts of the series, he definitely controls things on a broad scale. As for the currently in the works Hellraiser movie and HBO TV show, those shouldn’t be effected, as Barker doesn’t technically regain the rights until December 19, 2021, as per the judge in his case. Plus, he’s already an executive producer on the show, so it seemingly has his approval.

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