The Hellboy media franchise consists of four live-action theatrical films, a live-action television pilot, two animated television feature films and short films, and various games and novels, based on the Dark Horse Comics character of the same name, created by Mike Mignola. The franchise has grossed a total of $325.3 million, on a combined budget of $212.5–$221 million.
Comics
The character of Hellboy was originally created by Mike Mignola as a comic book character in 1993, and has featured in numerous comic books, miniseries, one-shots, backup features, crossovers, and guest appearances. The first film adaptation was made in 2004.
Films Title U.S. release date Director Screenwriter Story by Producers Hellboy Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro and Peter Briggs Lawrence Gordon, Mike Richardson, and Lloyd Levin Hellboy II: The Golden Army Guillermo del Toro and Mike Mignola Hellboy Neil Marshall Andrew Cosby Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin, Mike Richardson, Philip Westgren, Carl Hampe, Matt O'Toole, Les Weldon, and Yariv Lerner Hellboy: The Crooked Man Brian Taylor Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, and Brian Taylor Mike Richardson, Jeff Greenstein, Yariv Lerner, Jonathan Yunger, Les Weldon, Robert Van Norden, and Sam Shulte
Original series Hellboy (2004)
The film was directed and co-written by Guillermo del Toro and stars Ron Perlman as Hellboy (the favorite of both del Toro and Mignola for the role), Selma Blair as Liz Sherman, Rupert Evans as FBI Special Agent John Myers (a character created for the film), John Hurt as Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, Doug Jones as Abe Sapien (voiced by an uncredited David Hyde Pierce), Karel Roden as Grigori Rasputin, and Jeffrey Tambor as FBI Senior Special Agent Tom Manning. The film depicts Hellboy as living at the B.P.R.D. with a dozen cats and limited access to the outside world, and considered an urban legend by the general populace.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
A sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, was shot in Budapest by Guillermo del Toro and released in 2008, with Perlman and Blair returning. Jones also returned as Abe Sapien (undubbed this time), and also in two other roles, The Angel of Death and The Chamberlain. Revolution Studios had planned on making the film (which Columbia Pictures was to distribute), but the studio went out of business before filming. Universal Studios then picked it up. The plot is a shift to more folklore rather than action, with heavy European overtones. The character of Johann Kraus was added to the team, voiced by Seth MacFarlane. The character Roger the Homunculus was not, but he was written into the plot as a very prominent character in early drafts of the script. The character of Agent Myers from the first film does not return, his absence being explained by Liz remarking that Hellboy had him transferred to Antarctica out of jealousy. Hellboy also reveals himself to the outside world in this film, and Liz is revealed to be pregnant with his twin children. On November 11, 2008, the film was released on DVD.
First reboot Hellboy (2019)
In May 2017, Mignola announced Millennium Media's plans for an R-rated reboot, at the time titled Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen, with David Harbour as the titular character and Neil Marshall directing from a script by Andrew Cosby, Christopher Golden and Mignola. The film draws inspiration from Darkness Calls, The Wild Hunt, The Storm and the Fury, and Hellboy in Mexico. The film, later retitled as Hellboy, was released on April 12, 2019, to negative reviews. It grossed $55.1 million against a $50 million production budget, with several media outlets declaring it a box office bomb. In 2022, Marshall decried the film, calling it the "worst professional experience" of his life due to creative control being taken from him by the producers and that the script was not salvageable, concluding that "there's nothing of me in that movie."
Second reboot Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024)
In February 2023, Millennium Media announced plans for another reboot titled Hellboy: The Crooked Man, the first in a potential series of films. Brian Taylor directed from a script by Mignola and Golden, based on the 2008 comic of the same name, with Jack Kesy as Hellboy. The film was released direct-to-VOD in the United States on October 8, 2024.
Cancelled projects Hellboy III
During prerelease promotion for The Golden Army, Guillermo del Toro indicated interest in a third movie: "I think we would all come back to do a third Hellboy [...] I certainly know where we're going with the movie on the third one." Over the years, del Toro would opine that the project was unlikely to happen, citing many difficulties including securing funding for the increased scope he envisioned. In 2017, the rights holders opted for a reboot and relaunch of Hellboy on film rather than continuing with del Toro's involvement. Though Perlman continued to express a desire to finish the trilogy with del Toro well into the 2020s, by 2024 he had "let go of the fight" to make the film.
Hellboy: Silverlance In 2010, Hellboy screenwriter Peter Briggs was asked by Universal to script a spin-off centring on Prince Nuada, and provisionally agreed that Briggs could direct the film in New Zealand. Briggs began work on an outline with co-writer Aaron Mason. Titled Hellboy: Silverlance, the script was a B.P.R.D. story featuring Abe Sapien as the main character with Hellboy in a supporting role. Moving into the new B.P.R.D. headquarters in Colorado, Abe is troubled by his psychic connection with Princess Nuala, and begins researching the elves' history. The film would have shown Nuada's adventures throughout history, including his rivalry with a fairy courtier who orchestrates Nuada's exile in hopes of marrying Nuala and seizing control of the fairy kingdom; Nuada first meeting Mister Wink by saving him from a troupe of soldiers during the Spanish Inquisition; and Nuada in Nazi Germany, engineering a pact to keep various supernatural entities safe during World War II (with Nuada and Kroenen fighting in a "friendly" match for Project Ragnarok men). Doug Jones would have played both Abe and the Angel of Death, who strikes a bargain with Nuada. Rupert Evans's Agent Myers would also have returned. The story climaxed at the new B.P.R.D. headquarters, with the return of Rasputin's summoning gauntlet. Universal wanted to proceed with the project, but it emerged that del Toro's Hellboy 3 was still a possibility, so Silverlance was shelved.
In 2015, Briggs received another call from Universal, saying that Hellboy 3 had been cancelled and asking him and Mason to return for a reworked Silverlance, with producer Lawrence Gordon involved. The caveat was that Hellboy could not appear, but the writers managed to get the character a cameo appearance at the climax. If successful, the film would have launched a From the Files of the B.P.R.D. spin-off series.
In May 2017, Briggs affirmed that, with the announcement of the Hellboy reboot, the Silverlance project was dead.
Television Title U.S. release date Director Screenwriter Story by Producers The B.P.R.D. Declassified Ben Rock Ben Rock and Matt Compton Hellboy: Sword of Storms Phil Weinstein Matt Wayne and Tad Stones Mike Mignola and Tad Stones Scott D. Greenberg, Scott Hemming, and Sidney Clifton Hellboy: Blood and Iron Victor Cook Kevin Hopps
Live-action pilot The B.P.R.D. Declassified, a 22-minute television pilot centering on the B.P.R.D, was written and directed by Ben Rock and aired on FX on March 22, 2004.
Animated films
On November 9, 2005, IDT Entertainment issued a press release announcing that the company had licensed the rights to develop "animated content for television and home entertainment" based on the Hellboy comic. Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Selma Blair (Liz Sherman), Doug Jones (Abe Sapien) and John Hurt (Professor Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm) have all voiced their respective characters. Actress Peri Gilpin joined the cast as Professor Kate Corrigan.
The first two 75-minute animated films, Sword of Storms and Blood and Iron, aired on Cartoon Network before being released on DVD. The first one aired on October 28, 2006, and the second aired on March 10, 2007. A "Hellboy 2 Pack" limited edition DVD set was released on July 1, 2008, that contained both films.
Both stories have much more in common with the comic book Hellboy rather than the film — Abe Sapien is not psychic, for example, and the artwork and color palette is derived more from Mignola's original artwork. The DVD of Sword of Storms was released on February 6, 2007; it contains documentary material, commentary, and a Hellboy comic, "Phantom Limbs". Blood and Iron similarly contains a comic called "The Yearning".
Animated short films Hellboy: Iron Shoes (2007) was included as a bonus feature on the Hellboy: Blood and Iron DVD, with the cast reprising their roles. The Dark Below (2010) was released on various streaming services, with Hellboy voiced by Zebulon Pike.
Cancelled third film A third animated Hellboy film, The Phantom Claw, has been put on hold. Tad Stones, director and writer of the direct-to-video films, says the film would have starred Lobster Johnson and had some familiar characters, but Abe and Liz would not be in the film (at least not as main characters).
Main cast and characters
Character Films Hellboy Hellboy: Sword of Storms Hellboy: Blood and Iron Hellboy II: The Golden Army Hellboy Hellboy: The Crooked Man 2004 2006 2007 2008 2019 2024 Introduced in Hellboy (2004) Hellboy Ron Perlman David Harbour Jack Kesy Elizabeth "Liz" Sherman Selma Blair colspan="2" John Myers Rupert Evans colspan="5" Trevor "Prof. Trevor Broom" Bruttenholm John Hurt John Hurt John Hurt Ian McShane Abraham "Abe" Sapien Doug Jones Doug Jones Tom Manning Jeffrey Tambor Jim Cummings Jeffrey Tambor colspan="2" Grigori Rasputin Karel Roden colspan="3" Markos Rounthwaite Prof.Karl Ruprect Kroenen Ladislav Beran colspan="3" Ilko Iliev Ilsa Haupstein Bridget Hodson colspan="3" Vanessa Eicholz Klaus Werner von Krupt William Hoyland colspan="3" Joel Harlow Introduced in Hellboy: Sword of Storms (2006) Professor Kate Corrigan Peri Gilpin colspan="3" Russell Thorn Mitchell Whitfield colspan="4" Kitsune Gwendoline Yeo colspan="4" Introduced in Hellboy: Blood and Iron (2007) Lobster Johnson colspan="2" Thomas Haden Church Sydney Leach colspan="2" Rob Paulsen colspan="3" Father Lupescu colspan="2" James Arnold Taylor colspan="3" Oliver Trumbolt colspan="2" J. Grant Albrecht colspan="3" Hecate colspan="2" Cree Summer colspan="3" Erzebet Ondrushko colspan="2" Kath Soucie colspan="3" Introduced in Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) Johann Kraus colspan="3" John Alexander and James Dodd colspan="2" Prince Nuada Silverlance colspan="3" Luke Goss colspan="2" Princess Nuala colspan="3" Anna Walton colspan="2" Introduced in Hellboy (2019) Vivienne Nimue colspan="4" Milla Jovovich Alice Monaghan colspan="4" Sasha Lane Ben Daimio colspan="4" Daniel Dae Kim Gruagach colspan="4" Douglas Tait Lady Hatton colspan="4" Sophie Okonedo Lord Adam Glaren colspan="4" Alistair Petrie Merlin colspan="4" Brian Gleeson Ganeida colspan="4" Penelope Mitchell King Arthur colspan="4" Mark Stanley Baba Yaga colspan="4" Troy James Introduced in Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024) Jeremiah Witkins colspan="5" Martin Bassindale Tom Ferrell colspan="5" Jefferson White Bobbie Jo Song colspan="5" Adeline Rudolph Reverend Nathaniel Armstrong Watts colspan="5" Joseph Marcell Effie Kolb colspan="5" Leah McNamara Cora Fisher colspan="5" Hannah Margetson
Additional crew and production details