Essays · Movies

‘Hellboy 3’ is Dead; Long Live ‘Hellboy 3’

By  · Published on February 22nd, 2017

Del Toro himself hammered the final nail in the big red guy’s coffin.

Ever since about 30 seconds after people finished Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army back in 2008, there’s been speculation on whether or not we would ever get a third installment. In fact, just as recently as a few months ago the director stoked the flames by posting a Twitter poll asking fans if they were still interested in seeing the film. More than 100,000 people screamed “YES” and del Toro, by his own admission, said he’d sat down with lead actor Ron Perlman to discuss the project, and next on his list was Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. It wasn’t a sure thing, but it was the closest we’d come in nearly a decade.

Now, however, the project is officially, definitively, indisputably dead, and once again the word is coming straight from the director’s mouth, or at least his Twitter account:

“Hellboy 3 Sorry to report: Spoke w all parties. Must report that 100% the sequel will not happen. And that is to be the final thing about it.”

Anyone else detecting a little bitter resentment there? One thing’s for sure, GDT doesn’t want to talk about what happened, and it seems Perlman’s moving on without further discussion, as well, based on his response to the above:

Superhero seeks employment. Likes, pizza, cats, and the Marx bros.

Could it be that for some reason Mignola wasn’t into a third film? Or the studio, perhaps? With the writer-director and star of the previous two installments not just on board but leading the charge, it had to be something along those lines that derailed things. Seems like for the immediate future, at least, we’re going to be left wondering.

Up next for del Toro is The Shape of Water, a wartime fantasy film starring Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer, and Michael Stuhlbarg; it releases on a yet-to-be-revealed date later this year.

In other news and points of interest…

…20th Century Fox released a massive cast photo and proper synopsis on the film’s Facebook page, along with word that viewers of the FX series Legion will get a sneak peek at the film tonight…

…Not to be outdone, the cast and crew of the still untitled Han Solo Spinoff did kinda the same things over on the Star Wars Twitter account

…Though critics didn’t get to see it, there’s confirmation from Collider today that Logan will indeed have a post-credits scene. But what will it be?…

…Director Richard Linklater (Boyhood, Before Sunrise, Dazed and Confused) has lent his talent to the fight against his home state of Texas’ attempt to pass an anti-transgender bathroom bill by directing this commercial

…Time Magazine film critic and documentarian Richard Schickel passed away yesterday. For an appreciation of the man, his work, and his contributions to film, please visit RogerEbert.com for a moving piece by Matt Zoller Seitz…

Over in our corner of the internet, FSR had some great articles go up today, including Angela Morrison hosting a well-deserved celebration of filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour (pictured above), Rob Hunter running down the week’s DVD/Blu-Ray releases, Danny Bowes showing you how to have a good-ass time watching the Oscars, Paola Mardo checking out Game of Thrones: The Musical, and this video featuring every Best Animated Feature Oscar winner ever.

And in case you missed them, here are five of the most popular shots we tweeted today. For more of the good stuff, you know where to find us.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (1984) Director of Photography: Tonino Delli Colli | Director: Sergio Leone
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962) Director of Photography: Freddie Young | Director: David Lean
SNOWPIERCER (2013) Director of Photography: Kyung-pyo Hong | Director: Joon-ho Bong
HAPPY TOGETHER (1997) Director of Photography: Christopher Doyle | Director: Wong Kar Wai
TRAINSPOTTING (1996) Director of Photography: Brian Tufano | Director: Danny Boyle

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