After crashing and burning with the David Harbour-led reboot back in 2019, Hellboy is getting another chance to redeem itself: a new live-action film based on the demonic superhero is already written at Millennium Media with Brian Taylor set to direct. Progress is said to be well along on the reboot with filming set to begin in Bulgaria in April.
Chances of a new Hellboy anytime soon seemed grim after the Harbour film from Neil Marshall didn't resonate with audiences and scored only $55.1 million globally. Before that, though, Guillermo del Toro turned the demon into a household name. Originally a Dark Horse Comics character created by Mike Mignola, he burst onto the scene back in 2004 with a beloved flick written and helmed by del Toro with Ron Perlman pulling an iconic turn as the hell-beast hero. Thanks to the director's touch creating some impressive visuals and Perlman delivering a performance that was joyful, witty, and most importantly, endearing, it earned a sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army in 2008 that only carried the character to greater heights in an even more fantastical setting. For years, Perlman and del Toro tried to get together on a third film with the former even telling The Independent he'd still do it at the ripe old age of 71 for the fans, though it never seemed to be in the cards.
Millennium's new take on Hellboy is expected to be another reboot meaning a new actor will take control of the titular hero. Sources also add that the film is currently going under the working title Hellboy: The Crooked Man which implies that the plot could follow the three-issue miniseries of the same name, though there's no confirmation of that. With only two months until filming, more news on the cast and other details is expected very soon as the film fills out its roster. Hellboy's also not the only franchise Millennium is revisiting at the moment as it's currently working on a remake of Red Sonja which is in production in the same location Hellboy will film. Millennium also has no distributor for the film yet, though Discussing Film notes a streaming service could be in play given how stock in the franchise has fallen since 2019.
Notably, both Mignola and Christopher Golden will have story credits on the film, though it's unclear how or if they contributed to the screenplay. Golden is a curious addition considering he penned three canon Hellboy novels and was also involved in early versions of the 2019 film's scripts. That could imply that the novels will act as some inspiration for the plot, though Golden is also a frequent collaborator with Mignola in general. The two also teamed for the Dark Horse comic Baltimore as part of their shared Outerverse horror comics.
Brian Taylor Returns to Comic Book Films With Hellboy
Hellboy will bring Taylor back into the world of comic book films after he co-wrote Jonah Hex and, more notably, was a co-director with his longtime partner Mark Neveldine for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance starring Nicolas Cage. Together with Neveldine, Taylor also served as a writer and co-director on both Crank and its sequel High Voltage starring Jason Statham as well as the Gerard Butler-led Gamer. He's not been as present in the spotlight since then, however, with his last credit coming in 2020 with Brave New World, Peacock's first major original series which only lasted a season.
Stay tuned here at Collider for more on the latest Hellboy reboot as news on the cast should be coming soon. In the meantime, check out the trailer for del Toro's classic below.