Movies & TV Shows
Everything You Need to Know About This Year’s ‘Hellboy’ Reboot
Fans of the most famous demon on Earth can finally rejoice, as the long-awaited third Hellboy film is finally coming to the big screen. On April 12, fans of the gory franchise will be lining up around the block to catch the hotter-than-hell shoot ’em up action in all of its glory.
It has been a full decade since the last installment of the film, Hellboy II: Golden Army, which grossed $75 million according to Box Office Mojo, leaving us wondering why we’ve had to wait so long for another film.
This latest edition will be a major departure from the previous films in almost every single way, which has left fans divided and anxious in equal measure. Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s Hellboy reboot.
The Essentials
The most important thing to know is that Hellboy won’t be anything like the previous two films. The undisputed king of horror Guillermo del Toro will not be returning as director, citing a number of “creative differences” between himself and the studio. As a result, the original star of the Hellboy series Ron Perlman is also out, given his well-known loyalty to the famous director.
As such, we can expect a very different flavor of film this time around. One thing that’s certain is that the sequel to Hellboy II just isn’t happening, period. The mega-studio bankrolling the operation, Lionsgate, expressed concern that attendance to the last film was way too low to justify the $85 million production costs and figured it was time for a change of pace.
The new film has been directed by British director Neil Marshall, also known as the creative genius behind horror classics such as Dog Soldiers and Descent, as well as some of the most acclaimed episodes of Game of Thrones. In true form, this reboot is being released as an R-rated film, although judging by the trailer, it looks like there’ll be plenty of that quintessential Hellboy humor.
Who’s Who
The plot details of the film have been kept strictly confidential, so we know little aside from the fact that it’s largely filmed and set in London. What we do know for sure is the full cast, which is packed with instantly-recognizable names from the world of horror and beyond.
Ian McShane, perhaps best known for his stellar roles in Deadwood and American Gods, will be taking over as Trevor Butteholm, the academic who serves as Hellboy’s guardian angel. Horror queen and Resident Evil star Milla Jovovich will be doing her thing as the evil Blood Queen, an ancient witch who has been trapped in Hell for 1500 years.
Sasha Lane, star of American Honey, will be playing Alice Monaghan, the young girl rescued by Hellboy as a baby who is now his loyal sidekick. As for the main man himself, he’ll be played by David Hopper, an up-and-comer most well-known for his role in the Netflix hit series Stranger Things and his memorable appearance in Suicide Squad.
A Whole New Franchise?
If you don’t recognize Hellboy from the previous films, you’ll almost certainly know his face from the sprawling multi-million dollar franchise and multimedia empire spawned by the original graphic novel. There was the hit 2007 Cartoon Network animated series, Blood and Iron which garnered a large audience of adults and children alike.
Then there are the multiple smash-hit video games, such as the Science of Evil PS3 Title released by Resident Evil producers Konami and the Tooth Fairy Terror iPhone game by Tuesday Creative. The franchise even expanded into the world of online casino gaming, with the Hellboy reels being one of the most popular Betway online slots around.
The question now is whether this reboot means we can expect an entirely new franchise, complete with merch, video games, novels, and the rest. Facts are pretty thin on the ground at the moment, which means that Lionsgate might be waiting this out to see if enough filmgoers turn up before they consider any licensing agreements. Any and all Hellboy content is good in our eyes, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed.
What the Internet is Saying
The fanbase has so far given some mixed reactions to the upcoming film. It’s no secret that people were very excited for a sequel to Hellboy II, which had been promised to fans almost a decade ago as something that “needed to happen” in the words of del Toro.
Much of the Twitter and Reddit commentary at the moment is an equal mixture of lamentation over the lack of a sequel and cautious optimism, given the hugely talented director and main cast. The R-rating also suggests that fans may still be getting what they originally wanted – a much darker Hellboy film series which more closely resembles the source material from the comic books.
Only time will truly tell, and with this film just around the corner, you won’t have to wait long to see for yourself.
Generally, The Marvels is good. It has a 59 on Rotten Tomatoes, which isn’t great, but it’s better than Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Disney+’s Secret Invasion. Perhaps director Nia DaCosta’s video game inspirations contributed to that.
The American filmmaker said Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children influenced her latest film at a press junket with IGN. “It’s just an amazing movie, with great fight scenes and a great ending sequence with the main character being thrown into the sky by all the other characters,” she said.
Despite poor reviews upon release in 2005, Advent Children has become a Final Fantasy cult classic. DaCosta seems to agree that the film is a classic. PlayStation exclusives also influenced the Marvels.
In the interview, she said she didn’t want the superhero film to look “too much like a video game” but did draw from Sony’s biggest franchises, like The Last of Us and Horizon Zero Dawn. “For me, it was from the best games, the best stories that you get, that sort of inspires me to play, and I think inspires people to watch movies like this,” she said.
Since movies have shaped video games since their inception, it’s interesting to see the dynamic slowly changing. Now that technology and interactive storytelling are more complex, filmmakers are looking to PlayStation for inspiration.
Netflix reported third-quarter earnings and is doing well. Revenue increased as the company added 9 million subscribers worldwide.
Netflix is also using this opportunity to raise the prices of some of its U.S., U.K., and French plans to differentiate ad-free plans from its entry-level ad-supported plan. New subscribers to the most expensive plan will pay $22.99 per month.
Let’s step back and examine Netflix’s current situation. Netflix cracked down on password sharing in its home market and dozens of others in May. The third quarter is the first full quarter under the new rules, so we can see the effect of password sharing.
The company removed the basic tier in the U.S. and U.K. two months ago to simplify its offering. People must pay a lot to remove Netflix ads.
Reports suggest that many customers are experiencing subscription fatigue and considering canceling some streaming subscriptions, but Netflix still has room for growth, especially with advertising revenue.
The company has 247.15 million subscribers. The number of subscribers increased 8.76 million this quarter. Netflix subscribers haven’t grown that much since Q2 2020, when Covid lockdowns were enforced worldwide.
Netflix earned $3.73 per share on $8.5 billion in revenue this quarter. As ads plan subscribers rise almost 70% quarter-over-quarter, ads are contributing more to the bottom line. Nearly a third of new subscribers use ads.
Netflix shares are up 13.75% pre-market ($393.79 per share) on good news for shareholders. However, subscribers will be unhappy because the company will raise prices for some plans again in three key markets. Full breakdown here.
In the U.S.:
- Standard with ads: $6.99 per month (no change)
- Basic (no longer available): $11.99 per month (up from $9.99)
- Standard: $15.49 per month (no change)
- Premium (with 4K streaming): $22.99 per month (up from $19.99)
In the U.K.:
- Standard with ads: £4.99 per month (no change)
- Basic (no longer available): £7.99 per month (up from £6.99)
- Standard: £10.99 per month (no change)
- Premium (with 4K streaming): £17.99 per month (up from £15.99)
In France:
- Standard with ads: €5.99 per month (no change)
- Basic (still available in France for now): €10.99 per month (up from €8.99)
- Standard: €13.49 per month (no change)
- Premium (with 4K streaming): €19.99 per month (up from €17.99)
New subscriptions start at these prices today. Bills for existing subscribers will rise in the coming weeks.
When your writer—one of Hollywood’s hottest—tries to hide their involvement, it’s a bad sign. The Borderlands film’s original script was written by Craig Mazin (The Last of Us, Chernobyl), who recently asked the WGA to use the pseudonym “Joe Crombie” instead of his name.
We hope this means Mazin considers Joe Abercrombie, Lord Grimdark, the grittiness GOAT, but that theory is unproven. Since Mazin wrote the script in 2015 for Eli Roth to direct, a steady stream of writers has been brought in. Aaron Berg, Chris Bremner, Sam Levinson, Zak Olkewicz, Tony Rettenmaier, Juel Taylor, and Oren Uziel have put around 70 fingers in the honey pot.
The name change likely avoids confusion. Mazin probably doesn’t want to be blamed for Jack Black/Claptrap madness, but he wants to keep his rights.
To clarify, the Borderlands film finished filming in 2021, but Roth was replaced by Tim Miller (Deadpool) in January.
When this surprising star-studded film (Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Cate Blanchet) limps out, what are your expectations? We think this was supposed to coincide with Borderlands 3’s 2019 release, but it’s overshot the mark.
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