The CLIVE BARKER'S TORTURED SOULS action figure line
© 2001 Clive Barker/McFarlane Toys

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Tortured Souls

Genre:
Horror.

Studio:
Universal Pictures.

Production Company:
Unknown.

Project Phase:
Script stage.

Who's In It:
Unknown.

Who's Making It:
Hans Rodionoff (Screenwriter); based upon the Tortured Souls line of action figures, created by Clive Barker
and manufactured by McFarlane Toys.

Premise:
Unknown.

Release Date:
Unknown.

Comments:
Originally based on a McFarlane Toys action figure line conceived by Clive Barker, the six gruesome creatures' stories were told in a six-part novella provided as a chapter per figure. Six Destinies explored the legacy, depth and origin of each Tortured Soul character.

When Clive Barker and Todd McFarlane pitched their movie concept around Hollywood, they used the action figures to illustrate the concept. Universal Pictures ultimately went for it.

Scoop Feedback:

November 12, 2001... Barker sent out assortments of his Tortured Souls action figures to studio executives on Halloween Day -- and it seems to have brought him a nice cash treat. Universal Pictures has bought the film rights to the Tortured Souls figures for a sum that The Hollywood Reporter describes as "low-six figures against $2 million". In plain English, that means Barker got somewhere between $100k-$400k for the rights, and he stands to make $2 million dollars if the Tortured Souls movie ever is made.

[Source: The Hollywood Reporter.]

December 5, 2002... It took Universal a while but they've finally settled on a screenwriter for the Tortured Souls movie, and it's Hans Rodionoff. Rodionoff has been getting a lot of genre work, penning scripts for Werewolf By Night, Man-Thing, Alone in the Dark and most recently he was hired to rewrite the script for Spawn 2.

December 6, 2002... Creature Corner target="_blank">interviewed Hans Rodionoff to get the lowdown on his recent gig writing the Tortured Souls flick. "This is a project that I've salivated over for at least a year, ever since I saw the first series of action figures," Rodionoff told the Corner. "It's a wonderfully demented collaboration of Clive Barker and Todd McFarlane, and I can't wait to get started on it. "

The screenwriter also talked about what meetings he's had with Universal on the direction of the project, plus what creatures might
appear in the film. "One thing is, I think anyone who looks at the figures will immediately think of Hellraiser, I know I did.
But after reading Clive's original treatment, I realized that they were moving it into a completely new direction, and that's what got
me really excited. So, yes, you will see some of the Tortured Souls big as life and in the rotting flesh. No, this is not going to be a
Hellraiser movie."

[First appeared online at Creature Corner.]