After galvanizing fans to action with a series of tweets a couple of weeks ago, actor Ron Perlman has backtracked a little in his attempts to push forward with Hellboy 3. Though Perlman has made no secret of his desire to again play the endearingly foul-mouthed, cigar-chomping hell-spawn affectionately known as Big Red (and neither have we), the actor is now clarifying that making the movie is his, director Guillermo del Toro’s and the studio’s responsibility – not the fans’.
Speaking with Digital Spy, the star admitted to being “very, very surprised” by the huge fan reaction to his tweets, which included the following call to arms: “Anybody out there wanna see #HellboyIII as much as I do? Let’s get this muthafucka trending, y’all!” When Hellboy‘s loyal legion of followers indeed got that muthafucka trending, Perlman was rather gobsmacked. “I just sent it out like I send out most of my tweets, you know, just as a goof,” he said. “It started off a week’s worth of incredible feedback and enthusiasm and passion, which kind of surprised me and humbled me, and it’s still going.”
In Perlman’s mind, though, there’s a clear line between getting fans riled up about a third installment and strong-arming them into financially supporting the pic. He said:
“I wouldn’t want to be involved in a crowdfunding [campaign]. I don’t think it’s the fans’ job to fund a movie, I think it’s up to the people who do it professionally. I think it’s the fans’ job to sit back and buy popcorn and coke and watch the movie and enjoy it.”
Though crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter have worked for the likes of Rob Thomas (for Veronica Mars) and Zach Braff (for Garden State follow-up Wish I Was Here), using the platform to help pay for a big-budget studio sci-fi/fantasy film is a different venture entirely. It makes sense that Perlman would want to keep the fight to make Hellboy 3 within studio walls – here’s hoping that, even though he won’t be asking fans to put their money where their mouths are, all the chatter is going to have an impact when negotiations with the studio (probably Legendary Pictures) begin in earnest.