Guillermo del Toro admitted not long ago that even he was on the verge of giving up on ever making a Hellboy 2. The first movie wasn’t profitable and so he was having a rough time finding a studio willing to finance and distribute it. In the process of feeding his Hellboy obsession, he’s passed up a lot of bigger, perhaps even better projects. For instance, rumor had it that he was offered the helm of Halo.
But now, after all this time Guillermo may be able to feed his demon need. Hellboy 2 has found a home at Universal. The film that I’ve said will never be made will now be made… maybe. Actually this is the second studio to say they were going to make the film. The last one never did anything with it and then dropped it after a lot of sitting on their hands and thinking about how best to spend their dollars.
Universal says they’re going full steam ahead though, and plan to release the movie nationwide in summer 2008. The fact that they’re planning a summer tent pole release is a little strange, when you consider that the first one was sent into theaters in the relatively competition free spring and couldn’t find a big enough audience. Now they’re sending the sequel out against bigger, badder competition and expecting to do better? Don’t be surprised if the film’s release date shifts around a bit between now and then.
Ron Perlman will return as Hellboy for the second film, currently titled Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. Selma Blair is signed to reprise her role as Liz Sherman and Doug Jones is expected back inside his Abe Sapien suit. David Hyde Pierce did the voice of the character, hopefully he’ll be back as well.
It’s not often a box office dead weight like Hellboy gets a sequel, but if it was going to happen I can’t think of a better film for it to happen to. The story in the first film was a little weak, but the character is one of the best to make it into any film. With a better script and a lot more Hellboy, the second movie may end up being even better than the first. That’s a good thing. Let’s hope Universal doesn’t wake up and realize they may end up taking a loss by making it. This is one time I’d love to be completely wrong.
