Amazon.com continues to expand into the original content arena, with news today that Hellraiser director and noted fantasy writer Clive Barker plans to direct a new movie for Amazon Studios called Zombies vs. Gladiators.

Zombies vs. Gladiators is now in the hands of someone who has written genre-defining material throughout his career,” said Roy Price, director, Amazon Studios. “We are excited to see how Clive will add his unique narrative to capture the essence of this story and propel the project into something unique and original that could one day be enjoyed by all audiences.”

In the story, a gladiator must stop a zombie horde and save the city of Rome.

Since its launch in November 2010, more than 9,000 movie scripts and 1,000 series pilot scripts have been submitted to the Amazon Studios. At this time, 16 film projects are in development. We previously wrote about Amazon Studios’ efforts last month after the company started taking submissions for video Web series in the comedy and children’s programming categories.

Barker directed Hellraiser in 1987 based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. For those who can’t recall Hellraiser, here’s a horrifying flashback.

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