Take this in for a moment: not so long ago Hasbro announced that the Transformers franchise, whose last - and worst - outing scored its lowest Rotten Tomatoes score and an impossible £1.1 BILLION, will get at least 4 sequels with a 12 movie expanded universe vaguely planned. At the same time the Hellboy franchise is taking its last dying breaths, deemed not profitable enough for Hollywood to care about, despite how many fans want it to happen. That's the Hollywood that we all live around and supposedly love. Forgive me, but f*ck that Hollywood. While Hellboy 3's status was already in doubt, it looks like Guillermo Del Toro has sounded its death rattle (barring some sort of crowdfunded miracle) on the publicity circuit for Crimson Peak. Because, sadly, he's downgraded the status of the film to probably impossible. The director spoke on Josh Horowitz Happy Sad Confused podcast to say that studios arent just aren't bothered about funding the film, and the home video market that ensured that the first two movies' relatively unimpressive box office performance (heaven forbid you only make 100% profit as the second did) didn't matter so much has all but entirely dried up. For the money men, Hellboy 3 is just too risky, regardless of the profit already made on the franchise, the ability of the director or the rising profile of the lead actor (who has just been cast in Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. There had been a glimmer of hope in the shape of Pacific Rim 2: if that film had succeeded at the box office it would have been Del Toro's bargaining chip to make Hellboy 3. And now that film too is dead, thanks to Universal's decision to shelve it indefinitely. Maybe it's just time the director goes back to his little indie curiosities and imaginative horrors and tells the studios to stick it until they come around to his way of thinking. Maybe then he can build his profile back up in a tangible way, rather than existing in this weird talent zone where everyone knows he's great, but Hollywood won't give him the money to make movies. Shame on you Hollywood: Hellboy 3 could have been one of the most exciting comic book movies in development.
