EXCLUSIVE: It producer Roy Lee and Ready Player One producer Dan Farah have positioned themselves to bring to the small screen for the first time Hellraiser, the iconic horror franchise anchored by the malevolent straight-out-of-hell villain, Pinhead. Those producers have joined forces with producer-rightsholders Lawrence Kuppin, David Salzman and Eric Gardner, who have controlled those TV rights since New World was sold in 1989.

The intention is to use the mythology established in the movie franchise and the Clive Barker novella The Hellbound Heart as a launch pad for a new series that could be anthology, or a more traditional narrative. The producers are underway with a search for a writer-showrunner, before setting it at a network or streamer, at a time when horror is performing strongly.

The first movie told the story of a man who inadvertently opens a portal to hell when he tinkers with a strange puzzle box he bought during a trip abroad. The act unleashes gruesome beings called Cenobites, creatures from Hell. The scariest is Pinhead, who became the disturbing face of Hellraiser. The franchise has spawned 10 films, a book anthology, comic books, apparel, Halloween costumes, DVDs, and myriad globally licensed products. The first film was featured on Bravo’s 100 Scariest Movie Moments and is perennially cited as one of the scariest movies of all time.

The feature rights are separately controlled by Spyglass, which isn’t part of this configuration.