Guillermo Del Toro Says Hellboy 3 “100% Will Not Happen”

For years, Hellboy fans have been looking for some type of closure for the film franchise, preferably in the form of a third installment. Del Toro seemed down for it, as did star Ron Perlman. You would think that’s all that would matter, but the pair unfortunately had to navigate a think called “Hollywood” in order to get such a project made, and Hollywood never seemed to be responding in the same way that fans were.

Sure neither of the Hellboy films were huge box office bombs or anything, but it’s also true that neither really set the box office on fire, especially in a way that would that would make a final film economically feasible. Hellboy 3 was the definition of a cinematic toss-up, and I would argue that there was a 50/50 chance of the film getting made throughout its nearly 10 year long development cycle.

But Guillermo del Toro has arisen from the mist (a.k.a. his Twitter feed) to finally put the endless pleas and speculation to rest — and not in the way that many probably would have hoped for.

Hellboy 3 Sorry to report: Spoke w all parties. Must report that 100% the sequel will not happen. And that is to be the final thing about it

— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) February 21, 2017

Efforts to kickstart a third installment have been ongoing, with del Toro tweeting as recently as last month about a meeting with Ron Perlman and comic book creator Mike Mignola.

I spoke with Ron Perlman. He's in for the sit down. Will approach Mignola next. Will keep you posted. Very moved by your love of pt I & II

— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) January 19, 2017

But no longer, I guess. On the one hand, this is indeed a damn shame: though I found the first Hellboy to be only okay, Hellboy II: The Golden Army was great, and I was excited to see more from the universe after it. But, hey, you can’t say that Del Toro and every other party involved didn’t try, and it’s kind of a relief at this point to put an end to the constant speculation. With luck, maybe Del Toro’s announcement will indeed be “the final thing about it,” and we won’t have any annoying reporters ask if he’s going to play the character again every time the man has to do a junket.

But that’s probably asking for too much, isn’t it?