Following reports that a new live-action Hellboy movie is in the works, Deadline has confirmed Hellboy: The Crooked Man is indeed set to start shooting next month in Bulgaria.
After 2019's reboot starring Black Widow's David Harbour bombed, it's a little surprising that Millennium Media is already moving forward with another take on the beloved franchise. However, the big difference here is that Hellboy's creator, Mike Mignola, penned the screenplay alongside his Dark Horse Comics collaborator Chris Golden!
Brian Taylor (Crank, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance) will direct what's being described as a movie that expands Hellboy’s world through one of the most beloved issues of the comic series.
As the trade notes, the movie follows Hellboy and a rookie BPRD agent stranded in 1950s rural Appalachia. There, they discover a small community haunted by witches, led by a local devil with a troubling connection to Hellboy’s past: the Crooked Man.
On the page, The Crooked Man was an eighteenth-century miser and war profiteer named Jeremiah Witkins who was hanged for his crimes yet returned from Hell as the region's resident Devil.
"The Crooked Man is a departure from all previous Hellboy films where Mike Mignola and the creator of the comics will finally shepherd an authentic version of his stories and characters in film form," Millennium Media's President Jeffrey Greenstein says. "This is the first in the series of films that will captivate audiences in familiar (and new) ways."
"Brian Taylor is an expert across the board, and I couldn’t think of a better person to bring this story to life to show our audience this different and original Hellboy slate of films."
Millennium has an impressive 2023 slate that includes a new Expendables movie and the upcoming Red Sonja. Hellboy: The Crooked Man sounds like it has real potential, though there are many fans likely to once again be disappointed that this isn't Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman's unmade Hellboy 3!
Talks with actors are thought to be in the late stages, so we should have more news on this one to share soon.