Ron Perlman has finally given fans another update on the progress of bringing Hellboy 3 to the big screen, confirming the sequel will most likely never see the light of day. Furthermore, if Perlman’s assessment of the sequel’s intended creative direction is any indication, the lack of Hellboy 3 is indeed a tragic loss for cinema.
In an interview surrounding the announcement of the first film fully funded by his own Wing and a Prayer Pictures, Perlman tells Variety that Hellboy 3 "probably will never happen, though you never say never never." If that sounds like pretty abysmal news, then excellent job at making painfully obvious observations. However, in a separate but similarly timed interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Perlman makes the pain even worse by explaining how great this probably-never-going-to-happen Hellboy 3 would (of course) be.
"We’ve asked an audience on two occasions to buy into Hellboy, and it was set up to have its promised ending," Perlman insists, noting his frustration with Hollywood’s current "reverse engineering" problem. "So we are obligated as filmmakers to give it to the audience. I don’t care if it’s an $8 million indie film, let’s just finish the trilogy." According to the Sons of Anarchy star, Guillermo del Toro already has a "badass" vision for the franchise’s third and final entry.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army, released way back in 2008, took in just over $160 million worldwide against a Box Office Mojo-estimated budget of $85 million. Though surely not a billion-dollar slam dunk in the financial vein of Star Wars and Avengers, perhaps that global interest is enough to spark a fresh fire beneath Hellboy 3.
