The latest attempt to reboot the Hellboy franchise, Hellboy: The Crooked Man, finally gets a U.S. release date. But it might not be quite what you were expecting. Rather than debuting in theaters as it will in the U.K. later this week, the comic book movie reboot will instead seemingly go straight to video on demand (VOD) in the United States, with the likes of Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, and others now revealing that Hellboy: The Crooked Man will be available to rent or buy from October 07, 2024 9:00 PM PDT. No domestic theatrical release date has been announced.
This will no doubt come as a surprise, and a disappointment, to fans of the franchise, who were no doubt hoping to see Big Red take care of business once again on the big screen. Directed by Brian Taylor (Crank, Happy!), from a screenplay by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden, the reboot is based on “The Crooked Man” limited series written by Mike Mignola. You can check out the official synopsis below.
“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.”
Hellboy: The Crooked Man stars The Strain and The Killer star Jack Kesy as the titular Hellboy alongside Adeline Rudolph (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Resident Evil), Jefferson White (Yellowstone), Leah McNamara (The Gentlemen), Joseph Marcell (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), Hannah Margetson (Min kamp), and Martin Bassindale (Masters of the Air) as the Crooked Man.
Hellboy: The Crooked Man Promises To Be the Most Accurate Depictions of the Comics Yet
While trailers and images from Hellboy: The Crooked Man have left fans a little skeptical, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola has been heavily involved in the project, previously calling it the most accurate depiction of the comic book ever made.
“[My favorite thing was] to see how close it is to the comics. There are several shots in there that are panels from the comics and your fear is always, especially when you say it’s gotta be my favorite story, that it’s going to lose something. But all my favorite moments from the comic are in there. I mean, you’re holding your breath as you’re watching this. I actually got to watch, I didn’t go on set, but I saw dailies, and you’re just going, “I can’t believe this! Oh my God, you got it in there and is it going to stay in there when they cut the movie? “
Because there is a particular moment in the church that I loved so much. I thought, “Are they going to add special effects to that?” It’s just a quiet little moment. It could easily get cut, but it stayed all the way through. Not that I didn’t like the other movies or love bits and pieces from the other movies, but it was just… I was so grateful to see somebody that really did want to put [them in there], because at some point everybody says, “Oh yeah, we’re going to put your comic on screen.” But this is the time that it happened.”
Hellboy: The Crooked Man
is scheduled to be released in theaters in the United Kingdom on September 27, and will land on VOD platforms in the United States on October 7.