A lot of fans will likely never get over what happened to the Hellboy franchise, especially given the way the reboot turned out. Guillermo del Toro’s two movies may not have pulled in the sort of box office numbers typically associated with the superhero genre, but each one received widespread critical acclaim and made a profit after doing strong business in the home video market.
However, a combined global total of $270 million against production costs of almost $150 million meant that the margins weren’t enough for the studio to have much interest in the continued adventures of Big Red, despite del Toro and star Ron Perlman doing everything in their power to try and make it happen.
The producers eventually decided that a reboot was their best bet, one which backfired spectacularly when Neil Marshall’s Hellboy was savaged by critics and bombed hard after failing to even recoup the $50 million budget in theaters, while del Toro went on to helm The Shape of Water and scoop Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director.
In a recent interview, del Toro’s other good luck charm, Doug Jones, was asked about the possibility of returning as Abe Sapien for a third movie if the Pacific Rim director was finally given the opportunity to conclude his trilogy, and his answer was hardly a surprising one.
“That’s a great question. I think we all felt that that ship had sailed with the reboot,” Jones told Comicbook.com’s Jamie Lovett in an exclusive interview. “But then you’re right, with the reboot not being as they’d hoped. Does that mean you circle back around and try to pick up the story and continue with a Hellboy 3 from our storyline? I don’t know. That’s way above my pay grade to even guess at those answers. But let me say this. If they were to do such a thing, and I was offered that, and I was free to do so, hell yes. I would be involved.”
Having collaborated on both Hellboy films, Mimic, Pan’s Labyrinth, Crimson Peak, The Shape of Water and The Strain, there’s little doubt that Jones would be one of the first names to sign on if del Toro was ever given the green light to bring his comic book fantasy trilogy to a close, but it still seems like wishful thinking at this stage.