Ray Harryhausen Presents: The Pit and the Pendulum, a stop-motion short film produced by Hand Made Heroes Film & Television, will become a comic book through a publishing deal with Bluewater Prods. Bluewater puts out a series of comics under the “Ray Harryhausen Presents” banner, mostly based on classic films the master animator has contributed to. The Pit comic is slated to hit retail in February.
When Bluewater President Darren G. Davis and director Marc Lougee of Hand Made Heroes discovered they were both producing Ray Harryhausen Presents projects independently, they immediately inked a deal to further develop film and comic-book cross-over properties.
‘Seeing the film published as a comic thru a brilliant publisher like Bluewater is the realization of another dream of mine,’ says Lougee, ‘What started as a labor of love, and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make a film with Ray Harryhausen at the helm, has just continued to expand and reach further than I’d imagined.’
Based on the classic horror tale by Edgar Allan Poe, The Pit and the Pendulum revolves around a victim of the Spanish Inquisition who is left alone in a dungeon to suffer a fate worse than death as his captors employ fiendish machinations in their efforts to unhinge him. The comic book will feature images taken directly from the award-winning animated film, along with Poe’s original text.
The animated short premiered as part of Aint It Cool News’ BNAT (Butt-Numb-A-Thon) Festival, and has since screened in more than 200 film festivals and comic conventions around the world. In addition, more than 100,000 visitors logged into the film’s website (www.thepitandthependulumshortfilm.com) within two days of the premier in Austin, Texas. The Pit and the Pendulum DVD is available online at www.thepitandthependulumdvd.comAbout.
