The fans of Hellboy are now closer than ever to witness the return of the iconic red hero from Dark Horse Comics to the silver screen, or perhaps even to a streaming platform.
The latest reboot of the franchise has successfully concluded filming, as announced by Mike Mignola, the creator of the character, on his Instagram account. The upcoming R-rated film, Hellboy: The Crooked Man, will soon enter its post-production phase. The question now is whether this reboot will be worth the time of the viewers. Mignola himself seems assured, although the value of his confidence remains to be seen.
The upcoming R-rated adaptation of the folk horror story aims to make amends for the shortcomings of the 2019 version of Hellboy, featuring David Harbour as the main character, although he was not at fault. The lead this time will be portrayed by Jack Kesy, known for the film 12 Strong, and directed by Brian Taylor who helmed Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance. Mignola, the creator of Hellboy, praised the work he has seen so far as he announced the completion of filming.
The upcoming film will deviate from the blockbuster approach taken by Guillermo del Toro in his previous works and instead take a horror-first approach. The storyline of the film will be based on the 2008 comic book of the same title, written by Mignola and illustrated by the late Corben. As Mignola mentioned in a recent post, he collaborated with Chris Golden to co-write the screenplay for this reboot. Millennium Media will be leading the project. The film’s synopsis is as follows:
“Stranded in 1950s rural Appalachia, Hellboy and a rookie BPRD agent discover a small community haunted by witches, led by a local devil with a troubling connection to Hellboy’s past: the Crooked Man”
The strategy behind the latest attempt to develop Hellboy into a successful movie franchise appears to be based on the principles of horror films. This entails keeping costs relatively low while maximizing the potential for financial gain. As a result, the lead of this movie is not a big-name A-lister (with all due respect). Whether this approach will lead to success remains to be seen, but it does seem like a logical choice for the character, who has never quite found a comfortable place in big-budget blockbusters.
