Brian Taylor gives surprising update on Hellboy reboot.
Hellboy is set to be back on the big screen soon, with the new film Hellboy: The Crooked Man slated for release this year. The project, which will be the third cinematic reboot of Mike Mignola’s beloved character, has been in the works for several years now. While we have yet to get an official look at Hellboy: The Crooked Man through a trailer or poster, the film may have just gotten its most unexpected update yet. At a recent discussion at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival (via MotionPictures.org), Jonathan Yunger, President of Millennium Films, seemed to indicate that he used artificial intelligence to redesign a previously-practical creature on Hellboy: The Crooked Man.Â
“I was able to make 3000 creature designs in an hour,” Yunger revealed. “So now I can start to cherry-pick and edit those and then send it to visual effects.”
Brian Taylor, who directed and co-wrote The Crooked Man, took to social media on Tuesday night to confirm that Yunger was misquoted, and that his AI comments were about another movie in Millennium’s portfolio. Taylor reassured that “our gloriously practical hellboy looks phenomenal.”
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. @artofmmignola
— Brian Taylor (@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…
— Brian Taylor (@theunrealBT) May 1, 2024
A number of major projects have drawn controversy for using AI art or images, including Marvel’s Secret Invasion, Late Night With the Devil, and the recent Netflix documentary What Jennifer Did. The subject of AI in the entertainment industry was a core issue in last year’s Hollywood strikes, amid worries that the tool would be utilized to replace both actors and writers. Given the distinct visual style of Hellboy source material, and the ongoing debates about AI, creator credits in comic book adaptations, and practical versus computer-generated VFX, this initial report drew quite a lot of surprise among fans.Â
What Is Hellboy: The Crooked Man About?
In Hellboy: The Crooked Man, stranded in 1950s rural Appalachia, Hellboy and a rookie BPRD agent discover a small community haunted by witches, led by the Crooked Man, a local devil with a troubling connection to Hellboy’s past. Hellboy: The Crooked Man stars Jack Kesy in the titular role. Jefferson White, Adeline Rudolph, Joseph Marcell, Leah McNamara, Hannah Margetson, and Martin Bassindale will also star. Hellboy: The Crooked Man is produced by Millennium Films, and is set to be released by Ketchup Entertainment. Taylor, Mignola, and Christopher Golden co-wrote the script.
“We went on a long soul-searching expedition to find the right Hellboy, and we knew that this Hellboy was gonna be a very moody, very kind of dark and creepy movie,” producer Les Weldon previously told Collider about finding the right actor for the role. “There’s no gloss, nothing like that. And Jack, look, I had worked with Jack before, as had other guys in our company, and we sort of came to the same conclusion that that sort of personality he has was gonna work really nicely for that film.” Â
Hellboy: The Crooked Man is expected to be released later this year.
