Ron Perlman Pushing For Hellboy III On Social Media

Remember Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Hellboy’ movies? Remember how they established that Mike Mignola’s beloved comic book character was, despite his good nature, a harbinger of the apocalypse who, whether he liked it or not, would eventually bring about the end of the world?

Well, Ron Perlman hasn’t forgotten - and despite the prospects of a third ‘Hellboy’ having seemed very thin indeed since ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’ underperformed at the box office, the actor has long stressed his ambition to don the arduous make-up one last time.

And now, it seems the once (and future?) Right Hand of Doom has decided the time is right for one more big push on the matter, by taking to social media and urging fans to voice their support for a trilogy closer.

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Perlman started his push with one simple but strongly-worded tweet (caution: strong language ahead)…

This prompted over 15,000 retweets, successfully making the subject ‘trend’ on Twitter, with numerous responses including some from ‘Hellboy’ co-stars Selma Blair and Doug Jones (with Jones referencing his cameo alongside Perlman on TV’s ‘Sons of Anarchy’):

Perlman also took the matter to Facebook, earning over 33,000 shares and 71,000 likes in the process.

It’s admirable to see Perlman show such affection for what many would consider his signature role - and understandable that he’d want to get the ball rolling on a final film sooner rather than later as, at 65, he’s getting a little too old for those massive full-body make-up jobs that were once very much his stock in trade (TV’s ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ ‘The Island of Dr Moreau,’ ‘Star Trek: Nemesis’ and so on).

Still, as impressive as all these shares and retweets may look at a glance, the sad truth is it will most likely take a great deal more to get a greenlight for ‘Hellboy III.’ Both the existing films took less than hoped for at the box office, with the 2008 sequel having been considered an expensive gamble for Universal which didn't pay off in the end ($85 million budget, $160 million worldwide gross).

Even more problematically, Guillermo del Toro - a notoriously busy filmmaker typically juggling several projects at once as director, writer and producer - would seem to have long since given up hope on a third ‘Hellboy,’ despite having conceived the films as a trilogy, with ‘Hellboy II’ in particular having paved the way for a huge apocalyptic finale.

While there’s always the possibility that a different filmmaker could come on board to close off the trilogy, would that really work? Would either the studio, or the fans get behind a third ‘Hellboy’ without del Toro?

Still, Perlman and del Toro by all accounts remain great friends, with the actor set to reprise his ‘Pacific Rim’ role in the sequel, set to shoot later this year.

Perlman will next be seen alongside Rupert Grint in ‘Moonwalkers,’  whilst del Toro’s next movie ‘Crimson Peak’ opens in October.

Let us know your feelings about a third ‘Hellboy’ movie below.

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Picture Credit: Universal, Twitter