Hellboy is set for a return to cinema like a bat out of hell, with Millennium Pictures reportedly ready to kickstart development of another reboot — just four years after the last one flopped.
According to a report from DiscussingFilm, the studio is eager to give its IP another go at the races following an absolutely disastrous attempt in 2019 with David Harbour. The last film attempted to ride on the Harbour renaissance in Hollywood following his breakout in Stranger Things, but can now be comfortably considered one of the worst comic book films ever made.
The director of the film even disowned it, with Neil Marshall describing it as an apocryphal entry to his own canon. So naturally, it’s the perfect time to try and get audiences back for yet another reboot. The report suggests Brian Taylor has been tapped to direct, following previous work as the writer of Jonah Hex (which was bad), and directing Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (also definitely not good).
In fairness to Taylor, he is behind one of the most stupidly fun action films ever in Crank with Jason Statham and its equally ridiculous sequel High Voltage. If there’s anyone who could possibly turn Hellboy back into what it should be — high octane, ridiculous, and edgy — it’s surely someone like Taylor.
The currently untitled Hellboy reboot is reportedly set to begin filming as soon as April in Bulgaria with the working subtitle of The Crooked Man, taken from a three-part comic book series. There are no reports on who will play the titular character, but it’s almost certainly not going to be Harbour or a returning Ron Perlman.
Should the alleged shooting schedule be real, then this new Hellboy iteration could be coming as soon as summer 2024.