David Harbour Doubts 'Hellboy' Sequel Will Happen, Surprising No One

The Hellboy reboot arrived in theaters in April, and it was gone in a flash. The R-rated reboot of the Dark Horse comics hero starring David Harbour pulled in $21.9 million at the box office, less than half of the $50 million it cost to make the movie. Based on that, pretty much no one thought a sequel would be following. But just to be sure, someone asked David Harbour to confirm as much. It should come as no surprise that Harbour doesn't really see that coming together anytime soon, if at all.

ComicBook.com was bold enough to ask David Harbour if there was any light at the end of the tunnel for Hellboy to spark a sequel despite the fact that the movie bombed hard at the box office. Harbour was honest and very self-aware about the film's performance, both critically and financially:

"I don't think there'll be much of a light. There's a lot of people who reach out to me who really loved it and really enjoyed the new take, and were just happy to see him back on the screen, but I know in the culture at large, I don't think it was very well received."

We don't know who walked away from that Hellboy movie satisfied, especially after Guillermo del Toro did an infinitely better job bringing the character to life with Ron Perlman with the two previous movies. Those movies weren't runaway box office hits, but they did well enough to justify their existence. But this reboot barely registered with audiences this past spring. Harbour knows that too, and he just doesn't see the studio taking another risk like that:

"I don't think it made a lot of money. I don't really keep up with those things too much to be honest, but I don't think the perception was that it was a hit, and so in that way, I don't know that the risk is worth it. I think the idea is to move on. The producers spoke to me just saying 'Great job,' they really liked what I did, but I haven't heard anything about a sequel, and I'm not hanging my hat on anything like that."

Honestly, I wouldn't imagine that Hellboy will be touched as a viable film franchise property for years. The material requires a bit of a dark approach, and it's clear that audiences aren't entirely interested in that world. Guillermo del Toro made it infinitely more accessible than it otherwise would have been with a more loyal adaptation of the comics, and we can't imagine anyone doing a better job than that. Maybe at some point some studio will be willing to try again, but for now, Hellboy will probably remain dormant.

Hellboy is slated for a digital release on July 9 ahead of physical home media July 23.