Hellboy

Guillermo del Toro considers Hellboy one of the five best-directed films of his career. Released in 2004, the movie was the result of years of development and perseverance. At the time, studios were reluctant to invest in an unproven comic book property like Hellboy, especially before the major box office successes of X-Men and Spider-Man. Del Toro first directed Blade II, which helped him gain enough credibility to finally secure the green light for Hellboy through Sony’s Columbia Pictures.

He recalls that the project had been stalled for a long time. In fact, Hellboy was already in development even before X-Men began filming. Del Toro has cited Blade and Dark City as pivotal in showing that darker, more stylized superhero films could succeed. These films helped create a climate where The Matrix and later projects like Hellboy could thrive.

In 2008, del Toro directed the sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, which earned even stronger critical acclaim. However, the franchise did not continue beyond that. Del Toro believes that, in today’s Hollywood ecosystem, a third installment would be nearly impossible.

He points out that what made the first two films viable no longer exists: “The success of the first Hellboy on DVD and Blu-ray was phenomenal,” he wrote. “So much so that Columbia executive Ben Feingold pushed hard for the sequel. If I remember correctly, the film’s home video sales even surpassed its theatrical earnings. That kind of outcome would be almost unthinkable today.”

Ultimately, Hellboy represents a unique moment in film history—when passion projects could find life through unconventional paths and strong support from home media audiences.

See interview with Guillermo del Toro (in Spanish):

The evolution of the films of Guillermo del Toro: