Not that long ago we reported that Sony had wisely decided to drop the notion of a sequel to the not-bad-but-barely-broke-even Hellboy. Writer/director Guillermo Del Toro had vowed to fight slavishly on to get his movie made no matter whether or not it kills his career, reputation or bank balance.

Now Del Toro has released a very cleverly worded statement to make fans think things are progressing further forward than they are;

"We're moving studios right now. They don't have a deal with Sony any more and we are looking for financing for HELLBOY 2. It's at Paramount right now. It's bigger in scale, but not necessarily in budget."

Note that Del Toro said they are "looking for financing", he did NOT say "Paramount have picked it up". His phrasing suggests that the number crunchers at Paramount have the new script, and the box office receipts for the original and are currently deciding whether or not they want a potential turkey on their 2008 schedule. Especially when the idea of something of a bigger scale without a bigger budget very very rarely pans out well.

So while Del Toro's statement will no doubt leave the Hellgeeks drooling over the idea that their overloved character is set for an imminent return, a more cynical read between the lines reveal that it simply isn't true and Del Toro is simply trying to maintain interest in a project that has about as much general public interest as Silent Hill or Serenity.