New Hellboy Movie Reboot Reportedly in the Works

With three years between now and the last attempt at making a Hellboy movie, the time is apparently right for another swing at bat. Discussing Film brings word that a new reboot of the Mike Mignola character is happening at Millennium Media, who produced the 2019 movie starring David Harbour. Unrelated to that project and a fresh start for the character, the film has reportedly tapped Crank and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance co-director Brian Taylor to helm the movie. Casting is apparently already underway with an April production start date already being considered for the movie. All that in mind, the potential to hear about who will be the new Hellboy could be within the next few weeks.

The outlet reports that development is moving fast on the movie and that it even has a temporary title already, Hellboy: The Crooked Man. Readers of the Mike Mignola comics will immediately recognize that title however as it is pulled directly from the source material. In that story, written by Mignola and featuring art by the late Richard Corben, Hellboy makes his way to Virginia in the 1950s to deal with some witches, only to stumble upon The Crooked Man himself as the story unfolds. In terms of Hellboy storylines it's perhaps a great choice for a new reboot as it is self-contained and doesn't factor into the larger mythology of the character in a major way.

Taylor's work as a director was previously defined by his collaborations with former creative partner Mark Neveldine. The pair, credited as "Neveldine/Taylor" in the 2000s, directed the two Jason Statham-starring Crank movies, plus the Ghost Rider sequel, and the Gerard Butler-starring sci-fi thriller Gamer. They also previously wrote the script for the Jonah Hex movie. After the two went off to work on their own, Taylor collaborated with Grant Morrison on the television adaptation of Happy! for SYFY. Despite the varied success with their projects, that they have history with comic book adaptations is a plus.

As fans will recall, Hellboy's life on the big screen has been an inconsistent one. Though Guillermo del Toro managed to direct two movies that were well received and decent box office hits, a third film in the series never made despite continued outcry to complete the story. 2019's reboot of the movie with the Stranger Things breakout in the lead role was a commercial and critical failure, failing to ignite a new series and setting the stage for yet another quick reboot.