It's been a minute since we last saw Dark Horse Comics creation Hellboy in a cinematic setting, but the demonic protagonist is finally returning to the silver screen next year, albeit through a reboot rather than a sequel picking up where Ron Perlman's Hellboy left off in Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Originally we were supposed to meet David Harbour's Hellboy next January, but now word's come in that the new movie is being pushed back three months.
As announced by Summit Entertainment (via THR), Hellboy has vacated its January 11, 2019 spot and moved to April 12, 2019. No specific reason was given for the delay, but the reboot now finds itself going up against The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle, Breakthrough and After as opening weekend competition. Hellboy will also now arrive a week after fellow comic book movie Shazam!, a DC Comics offering. As movies like Deadpool, Black Panther, Logan and Captain America: The Winter Soldier have shown us, comic book movies don't need to be released in the summer season or November/December to put a lot of butts in seats, and perhaps Hellboy arriving a little later will help draw more eyes.
Shifting Hellboy to an April release was probably the right move. January is arguably the quest month for movies, often times packed with forgettable selection. So while Hellboy wouldn't have had any major competition, it was always a weird move to have it placed at the beginning of the year. Hellboy may not be at the same popularity level as heroes like Batman and Spider-Man, but moving his reboot adventure to April is much more befitting his status. Plus, considering that the Hellboy marketing campaign hasn't started up yet, there was already some suspicion it wouldn't make its January release. However, with New York Comic-Con coming up next week, perhaps that's when we'll finally get our first trailer and get a taste of what's coming next April. Given that all we've had to look at so far from the production is the above photo of David Harbour in his Hellboy makeup, it would be nice to finally have something substantial to chew on.
No specific plot details for Hellboy have been revealed yet, but the overall story will see the eponymous hero and his allies battling a medieval sorceress who wants to destroy mankind. Along with David Harbour as Hellboy, the cast includes Ian McShane as Trevor Bruttenholm, Milla Jovovich as Nimue the Blood Queen, Sasha Lane as Alice Monaghan, Daniel Dae Kim as Ben Daimio, Brian Gleeson as Merlin, Sophie Okonedo as Lady Hatton, Penelope Mitchell as Ganeida and Alistair Petrie as Lord Adam Glaren. The Descent's Neil Marshall directed, and Andrew Cosby wrote the script with Hellboy creator Mike Mignola.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for continuing coverage on the Hellboy reboot. In the meantime, check out our 2018 and 2019 release schedules to plan your trips to the theaters in the future accordingly.
