Could Hellboy III Eventually Find A Home At Legendary Pictures?

There’s a lot riding on the box office earnings of Guillermo Del Toro’s $200 million “robots vs. monsters” tentpole flick Pacific Rim, both for the filmmakers and for Legendary Pictures, the production company that footed the majority of the inflated budget. Legendary’s eight-year partnership with Warner Bros. is coming to an end soon – even with non-guaranteed hits like Godzilla and 300: Rise of an Empire coming next year – so the company would be wise to quickly latch itself onto a franchise it can call its own, should any of these films fail to match expectations.

Could that potential franchise Del Toro’s Hellboy series?

Call us cautiously optimistic about this one. ShockTilYouDrop shared some interview tidbits shared by both Del Toro and Hellboy/Pacific Rim star Ron Perlman. Del Toro was understandably less inclined to be overly positive about the prospects.

“I hate giving pieces away about it,” he said, “but last night, we were at dinner and Ron said, ‘I would be happy to do Hellboy again, when are we doing Hellboy 3?’ Thomas [Tull, Legendary’s Founder and CEO] said, ‘I would love to see Hellboy 3.’ He didn’t say he would love to do it; he just said he’d like to see it, but today, I’ll ask him.” This sounds like a turn from Del Toro’s former insistence that a sequel would never happen, due to both a lack of audiences and a possibly dispute with comic artist Mike Mignola over subject matter issues.

But Perlman, who once said he wouldn’t do another Hellboy because of the heavy make-up issues, was far more openly joyous about the prospect. “I loved working for Legendary, and I know for Guillermo, working on Pacific Rim was one of his greatest experiences,” Perlman shared. “The reason I loved working for them is because Guillermo was so happy. I came in six months into the shoot and he seemed as fresh as a daisy, simply because he was working for someone who appreciated and supported his outlandish visions of what he wanted to put on the screen. My immediate, silent wish was, wouldn't it be great if these guys came in and helped resolve the Hellboy series." We think Perlman should just go ahead and get permanent devil horns surgically implanted anyway.

Legendary’s Tull later responded by saying “there are rights issues that would need to be sorted out for Legendary to get involved.” No word on whether these issues are something Tull thought would be worth his time however.

It’s no secret that the U.S. box office for Hellboy II: The Golden Army didn’t even match its budget, though the international grosses made the film profitable. The clamor for a third film is relegated mostly to the already sizable fanbase, but there’s no way to gauge how interested the general movie audience is at this point. Would you go see Hellboy III in theaters? Let us know in the poll below.

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Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.