Pretty much every time Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman do the press rounds for whichever project they happen to be promoting at the time they”re asked a requisite “when will we see “Hellboy 3?” question. At today”s TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour, del Toro provided some more context for why that may never come to pass.
Both he and Perlman have consistently made it clear that they”d each like to see the film happen, and del Toro reiterated his desire today. However, there are certain barriers that exist that may prove to be insurmountable.
“”Hellboy 2” wasn”t greenlit because an executive was a big fan,” the director joked. “The first one made money. But it made money mostly in home video and that market doesn”t exist any longer.”
It”s not to say that home video has entirely disappeared. Certainly we have VOD formats – more and more all the time, in fact. However, there was a time that a movie could make a lion”s share of its profits in home video sales. That”s often how independent films made their money, in fact.
The world has changed. Not only is piracy a very real concern, but there”s an enormous amount of content competing for space. We”re seeing smaller films released on VOD ahead of a limited theatrical release to help them to find an audience, but as del Toro says “Hellboy 3” is a “big movie.”
“It”s bigger [more ambitious and costly] than the first two,” del Toro revealed.
The director is no stranger to long periods of development on projects. He worked to produce In the Mouth of Madness for a decade, in fact. His hopes for another “Hellboy” seem to have dampened as time as gone on.
“I always have five projects in development at a time,” del Toro reflected. “Because only one will happen.”
What do you think? Would you like to see “Hellboy 3”? Do you think that day may come?