It feels like Hellboy 3 has died a thousand deaths before even getting to live for one single day as a proper project. Sure, there's been talk, fan art, and pleas from the folks involved to cap off the trilogy of Dark Horse Comics' cat loving hellion, but it's never been an official greenlight. Well folks, it's safe to say that Hellboy 3 is officially as dead as The Last Elemental, and we're just sad about it. You can read Guillermo del Toro's official cancellation of sorts below:
As we've seen time and time again on Guillermo del Toro's Twitter, he and Ron Perlman have both been vocal components for trying to revive the series that last gave us Hellboy 2: The Golden Army back in 2008. So if any party spoken to wasn't interested enough to cancel the whole smash, it certainly has to be Universal Pictures, who are presumably the current rights holders. To be fair, it's not like they're doing it out of malicious intent, as Crimson Peak did cost the studio some money that it never made back during the theatrical run. But if there was any hope of clawing back some of that money, besides Pacific Rim: Uprising, it sure as hell would have been with Hellboy and company.
Some of you really hopeful fans are probably asking yourselves, "Why don't they just shop the rights elsewhere?" Well, even if they could, it stands to reason that Uncle Guillermo has grown tired of the constant ups and downs on this project. The man's not known for digging into one trench for too long before getting involved with another project. In fact, it's probably why he abdicated the director's chair for Pacific Rim: Uprising, as he eventually went to work on the period sci-fi drama, The Shape of Water for Fox Searchlight. So even if the rights were being shopped around all of Hollywood, you wouldn't be guaranteed a Ron Perlman / Guillermo del Toro double threat in command.
So for what feels like the final time, we'll report the news that we've been dreading to hear for some time now: Hellboy III is dead to Hollywood, but forever may it live in our dreams. Guillermo del Toro fans, as crestfallen as you may be, you'll still have some stuff from the man's mind and hands to look forward to. The Shape Of Water will be in theaters, presumably, at some point this year, while The Strain will return for its final season at some point in the second half of the year on FX. It's not the conclusion to the Hellboy saga, but they both promise to be a fun time.
