HELLBOY 3 Officially Dead

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You can’t blame the man for not trying.

Guillermo del Toro’s last ditch effort to revive his popular HELLBOY franchise finally ended.  After reportedly gathering together the film’s primary players – Ron Perlman and Mike Mignola – the group was unable to find a way to make it work.

And on February 21st, GDT called time of death:

 

 

This is a sad day for fans hoping for a miracle, but HELLBOY 3 had so much going against it – chief among them: a 66 year old star with lots of other gigs and a lukewarm target audience.

True, the films have been profitable – but not run-away hits.

That it got through two movies – really good movies at that – is a testament to the vision of GDT, Mike and Ron.  These films were underdogs from the beginning, and their legacy includes both a devoted cult following and prototype for being true to itself.

The making of the HELLBOY films is a great example of del Toro’s fight to make his films “his way”.  Among the studio suggestions that GDT received were a different star (Vin Diesel), a “Hellmobile”, and an aversion to the word “Hell” (“Can we make him ‘Heckboy’?).  The result was something that sidestepped the usual cookie-cutter studio drivel and instead became “high art action” that was fun and original.

Although we are sad to see the del Toro / Perlman HELLBOY franchise die – there is still hope for HELLBOY fans.  On Mike Mignola’s Facebook page, he didn’t rule out an eventual reboot:

Despite what some people are saying today–No Guillermo del Toro/ Ron Perlman Hellboy 3 DOES NOT mean there is no future for the Hellboy Franchise.

– Feb 21, 1:45pm, Mike Mignola, Facebook

Congrats to all involved in the first two HELLBOY films – they will live on gloriously in the film archives of Netflix, Amazon and others.