Hellraiser creator Clive Barker is suing to regain the rights of the franchise.

Actor and entertainment lawyer Larry Zerner broke the news of Twitter. "Clive Barker has sued for a declaratory judgment that he can terminate his 1986 transfer and get back his rights to the Hellraiser franchise," he wrote. He also included a link to the papers Barker filed.

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Zerner noted that the earliest Barker could get the rights back is Dec. 19, 2021. The producers of the franchise could hypothetically release a new Hellraiser movie before that date. After that, they would not be allowed to produce or distribute anything related to the series. Hellraiser: Judgment — which was produced by Dimension Films and distributed by Lionsgate — was the last Hellraiser film to be released

Zerner also clarified that "Barker would get back his rights in the underlying story he wrote and also the rights in first script. He would not get any rights in things that were in any of the sequels that were added."

Barker's filing has complicated ongoing projects related to the horror franchise. In April, it was announced an HBO television adaptation and a reboot of the film franchise are in the works.

The original Hellraiser was released in 1987 and grossed $14.5 million in the box office. It launched a media franchise, including nine film sequels, comic books, novels and video games.

(Via Bloody Disgusting.)

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