Capping off a frantic week for Hellboy, Lionsgate and Millennium Films have officially confirmed a January 11th, 2019 release for Neil Marshall’s hotly-anticipated reboot.
Truth be told, that’s a little later than expected, after a piece of suitably hellish artwork released at Cannes hinted that all involved were targeting 2018 for their “dark” and “gruesome” revival. But let’s face it; news that Hellboy plans to spend a little longer in the oven can only be a good thing, particularly after the Powers That Be almost brought the Internet to a standstill late last night by unveiling not one, but two photos of David Harbour kitted out as the world’s greatest paranormal investigator.
Yes, the high-profile reboot formerly known as Rise of the Blood Queen has come on in leaps and bound, casting a who’s who of Hollywood talent (see: Ian McShane, Sasha Lane, Milla Jovovich) since it was first unveiled to the world. And despite skating dangerously close to whitewashing, Daniel Dae Kim has been cast in the role previously earmarked for Ed Skrein of Deadpool fame.
In fact, Kim took to Twitter just yesterday to announce that he had reached a deal with Lionsgate to play Major Ben Daimio, a character who was portrayed as Japanese-America in Mike Mignola’s Hellboy comics.
Upon hearing the news that Skrein stepped down, he commended his fellow actor “for championing the notion that Asian characters should be played by Asian or Asian American actors. He could not have addressed the issue more elegantly and I remain indebted to him for his strength of character.”
It’s official: Lionsgate has locked down a January 11th, 2019 slot for Neil Marshall’s Hellboy revival. As things stand, the only other film of note slated for the same corridor is M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass (January 18th), which will seemingly be unlike any other superhero movie before it.