Hellraiser Reboot Director Imparts Promising Update on Sequel Prospects, Exclusive to Hulu

Summary

Director David Bruckner discusses the potential for a sequel to the 2022 movie Hellraiser, expressing hope for its future.

The movie is part of the ongoing Hellraiser franchise, which began with Clive Barker's original 1987 film.

Bruckner says he has not yet heard any news about a sequel being greenlit.

The director of the 2022 film Hellraiser has mentioned the potential for a sequel. David Bruckner, who directed the movie exclusively for Hulu, was the eleventh installment in the ongoing Hellraiser series. The franchise originated with Clive Barker's 1987 film Hellraiser, based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. The storyline of the movie revolves around Riley McKendry (played by Odessa A'zion) and her search for her missing brother Matt (played by Brandon Flynn) after he mysteriously disappears while in possession of a supernatural puzzle box.

Recently, David Bruckner spoke about Hellraiser in an interview with ComicBook on the movie's first anniversary. When asked about the possibility of directing a sequel to the film, which featured Jamie Clayton as the renowned Hellraiser antagonist Pinhead, Bruckner admitted to not having any updates on progress. Nonetheless, he expressed his hopes for a future continuation of the franchise. Below is his complete statement:

We've been wanting to hear from the audience and I don't know yet, but I certainly hope there's a future there, so we will see.

Why Hasn't a New Hellraiser Sequel Been Greenlit?

Surprisingly, there is currently no Hellraiser sequel in development, despite it being one of the most well-received movies in the franchise. Although its Rotten Tomatoes score of 66% falls slightly short of the original's 70% score, it still holds the second-highest rating among all Hellraiser films. Notably, Hellraiser (1987) and Hellraiser (2022) are the only movies in the series to achieve a Fresh rating on the platform.

The Hellraiser ending didn't reach the level of success Hulu was hoping for, but there is potential for a follow-up due to strong audience interest shown in the movie's streaming ratings. In the week of its release, Hellraiser ranked as the eighth most-watched movie with 248 million minutes viewed, according to Nielsen streaming metrics. Notably, it was the only Hulu title on the list. Although it dropped off the Top 10 list after one week, no other Hulu title made it onto the list for the rest of 2022.

On the downside, the highly successful movie franchise Prey, which stayed on the chart for three weeks in August, has not been officially approved for a sequel either. This suggests that Hulu may not base their decision-making for genre franchises solely on streaming chart metrics. Whether they will agree to produce a sequel to this supernatural horror reboot remains uncertain, but the fact that a year has passed since the original movie's release is not necessarily a positive indication.

Source: ComicBook