Although the initial announcement of an R-rated Hellboy reboot more in line with the tone of creator Mike Mignola’s comic book series was met with plenty of enthusiasm, much of that dissipated during the promotional campaign as it became apparent that the movie wasn’t going to meet fan expectations.
Sure enough, Hellboy was mauled by critics upon its release, and tanked at the box office, grossing just $40 million worldwide from a $50 million budget, pretty much putting an end to any franchise hopes the studio had for the property.
Now, in an interview with Digital Spy, leading man David Harbour has addressed the film’s reception, admitting that it has “major problems”, but he remains proud of the work that went into the movie.
“We did our best, but there’s so many voices that go into these things and they’re not always going to work out,” said Harbour. “I did what I could do and I feel proud of what I did, but ultimately I’m not in control of a lot of those things. The problem that I have with comic book movies nowadays is that I think, and it’s a result of the power of Marvel stuff, it’s like chocolate, it’s a flavour. So everybody goes chocolate is delicious and these guys make the best chocolate. So as you judge the movies, it’s like, ‘Well it’s not as chocolatey as this, this does not taste like chocolate at all.’ So in that way when Hellboy is viewed on the chocolate spectrum, it does very poorly. That being said, it also has major problems.”
SEE ALSO: Milla Jovovich dismisses Hellboy critics, says all her “raddest films have been slammed”
Did you bother to see Hellboy? If so, what did you make of it? Was the criticism warranted, or a little unfair? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter or Facebook at @FlickeringMyth…
Hellboy sees Neil Marshall (Game of Thrones) directing Stranger Things star David Harbour in the lead role alongside Ian McShane (American Gods) as Professor Bruttenholm, Sasha Lane (American Honey) as Alice Monaghan, Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil) as the Queen of Blood, Daniel Dae Kim (Hawaii Five-O) as Major Ben Daimio and Penelope Mitchell (The Vampire Diaries) as Ganeida.
Originally published June 10, 2019. Updated June 12, 2019.
