Anna Daniels
While no firm casting for HBO’s Hellraiser series has been announced yet, we do have a few clues to go by. The involvement of David Gordon Green and Danny McBride’s Rough House means that the show’s developed by the same people who brought you series like Eastbount & Down, The Righteous Gemstones, and Vice Principals. As such, it wouldn’t be a terrible shock to see McBride involved in some capacity that goes beyond his reported executive producer credentials.
Apart from that piece of informed speculation, the franchise is only truly dependent on one character: Pinhead, the prickly-faced Cenobite leader. He has worn a lot of (presumably pretty high-riding) hats during his time on screen, moving from a nameless demon to a pain-seeking Victorian soldier who caught a really weird break, a “priest of hell,” and even a version of the Aztec god Xipe Totec. Most importantly, he’s usually been portrayed by actor Doug Bradley, under a truly astounding amount of make-up. Bradley’s Pinhead is the definitive version of the character, even though Paul T. Taylor played the role in the latest installment of the movie series, Hellraiser: Judgment. Interestingly, Spyglass Entertainment is currently developing a Hellraiser project that’s not affiliated with the HBO series. It remains to be seen whether one of these projects will take the iconic route by casting Bradley, or if they both reach for new Pinhead horizons.
As for the casting of the other Cenobites and the humans they’re out to torture, it will doubtlessly provide endless, delicious possibilities, seeing as small-screen horror is fully capable of attracting name talent. Just ask Academy Award winner Kathy Bates and her many seasons of American Horror Story — or pretty much every major player on Penny Dreadful.
Written by: Looper
