When the Weinstein Company (through Dimension films) seemed to cancel their planned theatrical reboot of the Hellraiser franchise in favor of a new installment going direct to DVD, I wondered as to their motives. Common wisdom suggested that it was a reaction to the poor reception that recent horror franchise remakes like Friday The 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street received that cause producers to pull the plug on relaunching the series. But it turns out that the reasoning may have been far more insidious.

Bloody Disgusting is reporting that producers are looking “to make the franchise fitted for ‘teens’,” an idea that sounds pretty foolish for those who are familiar with the material. Clive Barker’s original film, based on one of his own short stories, had a strong theme of sadomasochism to it, which has become one of the hallmarks of the franchise. I find it hard to believe that it could be watered down to something that the folks at the MPAA would consider appropriate for teenage audiences. Whatever the result would be would certainly not be in the same spirit as the original and will no doubt alienate the franchise’s long-time fans.

Of course, I can understand why a studio would want to make a movie that would be accessible to the broadest spectrum of ticket buyers as possible, but doing so at the expense of one the core tenants of what made the franchise popular to begin with seems counterproductive to the stated goal of relaunching said franchise.

Director Christian E. Christiansen, who previously circled the project a few years back, is once again being considered for the job, presumably if he can show that he can deliver this watered down version that they’re looking for. Actress Amber Heard being considered for a lead role.

When we last left the saga of Dimension Films’ struggle to remake the Clive Barker horror classic Hellraiser, the sturio had just hired writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton to take a pass at the screenplay, as they weren’t too happy with the draft turned in by the project’s co-directors, Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury.

Well, it seems that Bustillo and Maury have left the film altogether, as The Hollywood Reporter has announced that French director Pascal Laugier is in negotiations to helm the remake.

This is a dream project for me. I know Clive Barker’s work very well, and I would never betray what he has done. Fans are expecting a definitive Hellraiser, and I don’t want to take that away from them.

Encouraging words from Laugier, if it weren’t for the fact that many already consider Barker’s 1987 movie, adapted from his own short story “The Hell-Bound Heart,” to be fairly definitive in its own right. Still, it should be interesting to see if Laugier incorperates much of the mythology around the Lament Configuration,  infernal puzzle box that summons forth the demonic Cenobite known as Pinhead, that was developed by Hellraiser‘s numerous sequels.

Laugier’s current film, Martyrs, has been sparking much controversy in his home country of France, where it has earned that country’s equivelant of the NC-17 rating for graphic and disturbing violent imagery.

Last month, we told you that Dimension Films’ remake of the Clive Barker horror classic Hellraiser was being pushed to 2009 as the studio wasn’t happy with the script from the project’s co-directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury. Now that the Writers Guild strike is over, the studio has been freed up to farm the project out to a new scribe or scribes.

Bloody Disgusting is reporting that the screenwriting pair of Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton have been tapped to take a pass at the script. Previously the pair has written Feast, last year’s Saw IV and the upcoming Saw V.

The Hellraiser remake is expected to hit screens on January 9, 2009.

It looks like that forthcoming remake of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, may not be as forth coming as thought. The folks over at Bloody Disgusting are reporting that the folks at Dimension film who are producing the movie aren’t particularly thrilled with the script turned in by the project’s directors, the French team of Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury. Dimension now wants to farm the script out to another writer(s), but with the Writer’s Guild strike still ongoing, nothing can be done at this time.

Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, the two French directors behind the recent Franco horror film Inside, have been hired to helm the upcoming remake of Clive Barker’s 1987 classic Hellraiser. Bloody Disgusting reported last week that the pair have signed for the film, which will probably go into production before next year’s possible Director’s Guild strike.

Bustillo and Maury’s Inside played last month at the Toronto International Film Festival to rave reviews. It was picked up for distribution by the Weinstein Company.

Although Barker wrote and directed the original film – which centered on a man trapped in hell whose girlfriend tries to free him by exchanging innocent souls for his – he is only serving as a writer and producer on this version.