Lucio Fulci’s ‘The Beyond’ Set for Remake as Severin Films and Hangtime Launch Genre Partnership
One of Lucio Fulci’s most celebrated nightmares is getting another trip through the gates of Hell.
Hangtime International Pictures and Severin Films have formed a strategic partnership to secure remake rights to select genre films for theatrical, streaming and physical media, with the companies planning several reboots over the next two years. Their first horror project will be an English-language reimagining of Lucio Fulci’s 1981 classic The Beyond.
Originally released in Italy as …E tu vivrai nel terrore! L’aldilà, Fulci’s The Beyond follows a woman who inherits a Louisiana hotel without realizing the property sits over one of the seven gateways to Hell. What follows abandons conventional logic for an increasingly surreal descent through supernatural terror, zombies, grotesque violence and apocalyptic imagery.
The film has since become one of the defining works of Fulci’s career and a cornerstone of Italian horror, making any attempt to reinterpret it for contemporary audiences likely to draw considerable attention from genre fans.
“The impetus for this partnership was our shared commitment to fans of the genre and our desire to deliver for new horror audiences,” Hangtime Co-CEO Frank Murray said in announcing the partnership.
According to Murray, the companies see the project as an opportunity for an established filmmaker to reimagine Fulci’s work rather than simply reproduce it.
“This is a rare opportunity for an established director to reimagine The Beyond, contemporize it as a classic of experiential horror and further the ever-growing cultural significance of Fulci’s work,” Murray said.
Hangtime is also looking at the larger possibilities surrounding Fulci’s mythology.
“We also love the built-in sequel opportunity afforded us by Fulci’s Gates of Hell universe,” Murray added.
Fulci’s The Beyond is commonly associated with City of the Living Dead and The House by the Cemetery as his unofficial Gates of Hell trilogy. While the announcement does not confirm remakes of those films, Hangtime’s comments make clear that the producers see potential for The Beyond to extend beyond a standalone project.
No director, cast or production timetable for the remake has been announced.
Hangtime Co-CEO Frida Torresblanco said Severin’s involvement extends beyond navigating the rights surrounding the films, describing the company as “a uniquely knowledgeable creative sounding board.”
That genre expertise is particularly significant for a property such as The Beyond. Severin Films has spent two decades restoring and releasing cult, horror and exploitation cinema, developing a catalog heavily focused on preserving films that have historically existed outside mainstream studio filmmaking.
“Severin Films has devoted two decades to restoring and releasing genre films with the utmost respect for their originality and ongoing legacy,” Severin Films co-founder, president and CEO David Gregory said.
“Reimagining these classic titles for a new generation presents a unique opportunity for the genre community, and we look forward to what this partnership will bring forth.”
The deal was brokered by Severin’s Italian correspondent Manlio Gomarasca and RTI Mediaset International Sales Manager Claudia Marra, securing the English-language remake rights to …E tu vivrai nel terrore! L’aldilà on behalf of Hangtime and Severin.
“We are very excited to see this remake project moving forward, and especially to have found such strong and passionate partners to bring this classic to a new audience,” Marra said. “There is already a great deal of excitement around the project, and we believe this is a fantastic way to start this new journey.”
For Severin, the partnership represents an interesting extension of its longstanding work preserving genre history. The company will now participate in reimagining select films for new audiences while Hangtime develops projects intended for theatrical, streaming and physical-media markets.
Few films could provide a more closely watched test case than The Beyond.
Fulci’s original isn’t remembered simply because of its premise. Its reputation was built through oppressive atmosphere, dream logic, extreme practical effects and the director’s willingness to allow nightmare imagery to overwhelm conventional narrative rules. Those qualities helped transform what could have been another haunted-building story into one of Italian horror’s enduring cult landmarks.
Recreating the plot is one thing. Finding a contemporary way to capture that sense of experiential nightmare is a considerably more difficult assignment.
Hangtime and Severin appear prepared to find out whether the gates can be opened again.
The English-language reimagining of The Beyond will launch the companies’ new genre partnership, with several additional reboots planned over the next two years.
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