It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for Hellboy fans lately. Several months ago, Guillermo del Toro got our hopes up by saying that a third instalment in his series was looking likely. That didn’t last too long, however, as a month later the director announced that despite his best efforts, it just wasn’t going to happen. Thankfully, then, some bittersweet news arrived in May when we learned that the character would be coming back to the big screen, just in a different form.
As you no doubt know by now, Hellboy is being rebooted under the title Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen, with director Neil Marshall at the helm and David Harbour playing the titular hero. It was an announcement that came out of left field and while it wasn’t the same as getting a third outing from del Toro, fans were just happy that Red was going to see the inside of a theatre again. Plus, the R-rating and darker and more gruesome take on the character which we’ve been promised is definitely exciting and has us looking forward to seeing how this reboot turns out.
Up until now, the film has been without a studio to call home, which isn’t that unusual given the early stage of production that it’s in, but The Wrap is reporting tonight that Lionsgate might swoop in and pick up the distribution rights. This would mark the franchise’s third studio, as Hellboy was from Columbia Pictures while Universal took Hellboy II.
Given that Marshall’s worked with Lionsgate before though, it does make sense for them to hop on board here. Not to mention that they’ve got some experience in the R-rated superhero/comic book movie genre as well, what with the rather fantastic but criminally under-seen Dredd coming from them. Though The Wrap notes that this isn’t a done deal just yet, we understand that the studio is in advanced negotiations already, so it seems like it’ll go through.
One way or another, we’ll be sure to keep you posted on where Hellboy lands, but in the meantime, tell us, what are you hoping to see from the reboot? Let us know in the usual place!