As we reported earlier this week, British filmmaker (and helmer of fan favourites Dog Soldiers and The Descent) is set to take on a very different kind of creature with the upcoming Hellboy redux.
The news was broken by Mike Mignola, creator of the Hellboy universe, via social media. It was quickly deduced that the upcoming flick, from Millenium, in partnership with producers Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin, would be an R-rated remake, rather than the threequel fans were clamouring for.
The upcoming reboot will be directed by Marshall from a script co-written by Mignola, Andrew Cosby and Christopher Golden. David Harbour (Stranger Things) is in negotiations to play the titular character.
Little is known about the premise thus far, but Golden gave some insight in a recent conversation with Silver Screen Beat:
[This] is a darker, more gruesome version of Hellboy. Neil said from the very beginning that he wanted to walk a razor’s edge between horror and comic book movie, which was music to my ears, because that’s what I was shooting for in the script, and precisely what Mignola does so well with the comics.
As for what stage the script is at, Golden was candid:
The script is done, but work will continue as we move forward, always trying to make it the best it can be.
The hangup in making a third film was likely that the first two installments didn’t really find their audience until home video. Both the original and the sequel did make their budget back at the box office but they did not become massively successful until they were released to home video. With video sales no longer being a guarantee, many financiers were hesitant to get on board with a third installment.
There was a certain amount of backlash when the news was first released earlier this week, but a remake could be exactly what this series needs.
Stay tuned to Wicked Horror for more info on the movie as it’s announced.
