Guillermo del Toro has delivered the final – final – word on Hellboy 3, and it’s not good.
Fans of Ron Perlman’s cigar-chomping demon have been petitioning for a third film in the cult fantasy series ever since the credits rolled on 2008’s The Golden Army, and though a recent, informal Twitter poll generated a renewed sense of interest in the long-rumored project – after garnering more than 100,000 votes, del Toro promised a “serious sit down” with Perlman and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola – it looks as though Hellboy 3 has been banished to the depths of development hell once and for all.
Per Twitter, the illustrious Mexican director turned in a status report, confirming that, after speaking with all parties – Perlman, Mignola and likely a handful of industry producers – Hellboy 3 has gone the way of the dodo.
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
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) February 21, 2017
Alas, the filmmaker stopped short of revealing exactly why he’s decided to pull the plug. Hellboy 3 was always considered a longshot, even among those ardent supporters of Perlman’s Big Red, and the fact that the first two movies released under different studios – Columbia Pictures first; Universal Pictures second – led many to direct del Toro’s attention toward a crowdfunding platform in the vein of Kickstarter.
It looked to be one of the only options left remaining for del Toro and Co., particularly after the first two Hellboy films recouped around $260 million between them – hardly enough to warrant a full-blown, and therefore expensive, threequel. However, those tentative plans never materialized, and in truth, the future of the cult franchise has been up in the air since 2014. Now, the writing is on the wall: Hellboy 3 is no more.
Beyond the realm of sarcastic, larger-than-life demons, Guillermo del Toro has lined up Cold War drama The Shape of Water, while Netflix recently issued the green light for Trollhunters season 2. The decorated writer-director is also involved in Hideo Kojima’s PS4 exclusive Death Stranding, but only in a producing capacity.