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This article is about the film adaptation of the comic. For the collection containing the miniseries, see Hellboy: The Crooked Man and Others.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man is an upcoming American superhero horror film, based on the Dark Horse Comics character Hellboy created by Mike Mignola. Produced by Millennium Media, Dark Horse Entertainment, Nu Boyana Film Studios, and Campbell Grobman Films, and distributed by Ketchup Entertainment, it is the second reboot of the Hellboy film series and is the fourth live-action entry in the franchise. It is directed by Brian Taylor from a script he wrote with Mignola and Christopher Golden, specifically deriving from The Crooked Man limited series written by Mignola. The film stars Jack Kesy as Hellboy, alongside Jefferson White and Adeline Rudolph. Filming began in March 2023, in Bulgaria, and wrapped in May.

Premise

"In the 1950s, Hellboy and a rookie BPRD agent, stranded in rural Appalachia, discover a small community haunted by witches, led by a local devil with a troubling connection to Hellboy's past: The Crooked Man."[2]

Cast

  • Jack Kesy as Hellboy / Anung Un Rama: A powerful yet gentle-natured and heroic demon who works for the government organization Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D.)., frequently dispatched to handle missions or assignments involving paranormal entities and phenomenon.[3]
  • Martin Bassindale as Miser Jeremiah Witkins, the titular villainous Crooked Man, a charismatic and masterfully manipulative demonic figure who swindles people into selling their souls for power, with a connection to Tom Ferrell, Cora Fisher, and Effie Kolb. Bassindale will also portray Professor Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm, founder and head of the B.P.R.D. and Hellboy's adoptive father, who is reported to appear in a minor supporting role.
  • Jefferson White as Tom Ferrell: [4]
  • Adeline Rudolph as Bobbie Jo Song: The teenage daughter of a hillbilly family who became bewitched, necessitating her family to call on Hellboy's assistance.[4]
  • Joseph Marcell as Reverend Nathaniel Armstrong Watts: A steadfastly devout local preacher and enemy to the Crooked Man, who has unfailingly defied him throughout many years.
  • Leah McNamara as Effie Kolb: A sadistic blonde witch who practiced satanic witchcraft and became a familiar of Witkins. She has been romantic friends with Tom Ferrell in childhood, having taught him the craft and manipulated him into pledging himsel Jeremiah Witkins.
  • Hannah Margetson as Cora Fisher: A dark-haired but well-meaning witch Who can transfigurate into a beetle, As well as a childhood friend of Tom and Effie, who lost her husband and children to the Miser Witkins.

Production

Development

In February 2023, Millennium Media announced plans for a new live-action reboot titled Hellboy: The Crooked Man, the first in a potential series of films. Production is scheduled to begin in April 2023 in Bulgaria with Brian Taylor directing from a script by comics creator Mike Mignola and frequent collaborator Christopher Golden, based on the 2008 comic miniseries of the same name. The film is to be co-produced between Nu Boyana Film Studios and Campbell Grobman Films and is presented by Millennium Media in association with Dark Horse Entertainment.[2]

Taylor expressed his intentions to "reset" the film series and depict a younger and wandering version of Hellboy with a folk horror influence similar to the comics; Taylor also confirmed that the film would be R-rated in order to embrace the "dark and scary and violent and adult" elements of the comics.[5] The following month, Jack Kesy was announced to portray Hellboy,[3] and Jefferson White and Adeline Rudolph were cast as Tom Ferrell and Bobbie Jo Song.[4] In September, Ketchup Entertainment announced that it would distribute the film, as well as Joseph Marcell, Leah McNamara, Hannah Margetson, and Martin Bassindale were cast in undisclosed roles.[6]

Filming

Principal photography began in March 2023, in Bulgaria,[2] and wrapped on May 15.[7]

Post-production

In February 2024, Millennium Media president Jonathan Yunger stated that, after a practical special effect for a film's demon character proved disappointing, he used generative artificial intelligence to make numerous replacement creature designs, which were passed on to visual effects. A Motion Picture Association article reported that this occurred on the film Hellboy: The Crooked Man;[8] however, in May 2024, the film's director Brian Taylor said that Yunger had been misquoted, and had been referring to the earlier film The Offering.[9]

Taylor said that for Hellboy: The Crooked Man, no AI tools were used in pre-production or elsewhere, and that the characters of both Hellboy and the Crooked Man were created and shot practically, with no CGI enhancements.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ "Hellboy: The Crooked Man - WGA Directory". Writers Guild of America West. March 12, 2024. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Wiseman, Andreas (February 18, 2023). "'Hellboy: The Crooked Man' Plot & Production Details Revealed By Millennium; Reboot To Be A "Departure" & First In New Series — EFM". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Wiseman, Andreas (March 2, 2023). "'Deadpool 2' Star Jack Kesy Cast As Hellboy In Reboot 'The Crooked Man'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 2, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Wiseman, Andreas (March 3, 2023). "'Hellboy' Reboot 'The Crooked Man' Adds 'Yellowstone' Star Jefferson White & 'Resident Evil's Adeline Rudolph". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 3, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  5. ^ O'Rourke, Ryan (February 20, 2023). "'Hellboy: The Crooked Man' Will Be an R-Rated Folk Horror Movie [Exclusive]". Collider. Archived from the original on March 2, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ Kroll, Justin (September 11, 2023). "Ketchup Entertainment Lands Rights To New 'Hellboy' Reboot 'The Crooked Man' Starring Jack Kesy". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 11, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  7. ^ Barnhardt, Adam (May 15, 2023). "New Hellboy Reboot Wraps Filming". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2023. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  8. ^ Edelbaum, Susannah (March 1, 2024). "Lights, Camera, Action (Plan): A Focus on the Filmmakers of Tomorrow at Berlinale". Motion Picture Association. Archived from the original on March 3, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  9. ^ Taylor, Brian [@theunrealBT] (May 1, 2024). "he was misquoted, my man. the comment was referring to a different film, THE OFFERING. rest assured there is zero AI used on HBTCM and our gloriously practical hellboy looks phenomenal. probably the article was written by AI..." (Tweet). Retrieved May 1, 2024 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ Taylor, Brian [@theunrealBT] (May 1, 2024). "to be clear: there is exactly *ZERO* AI used on hellboy: the crooked man. both characters - hellboy and the crooked man - were created and shot 100% gloriously practical, as the movie gods intended, with no cgi enhancement... and look AMAZING" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 1, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2024 – via Twitter.
  11. ^ Taylor, Brian [@theunrealBT] (May 1, 2024). "to everyone still on this: no, there was ZERO AI used in preproduction either. not a fan. all concept art/character design for HBTCM courtesy the incredible source material of @artofmmignola and the late great richard corben" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 1, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2024 – via Twitter.
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