Bad News: Hellboy 3 (Probably) Still Won't Happen

That's right, Ron Perlman has shot another cannon in the hopes that a third Hellboy film could grace our screens. The 65 year old Sons of Anarchy actor told Variety that Hellboy III:

Probably will never happen, though you never say never never.

Oh Ron, you big tease. Whilst promoting the second season of Amazon's Hand of God, he hasn't ruled out the return of Anung Un Rama (Hellboy's real name), but it doesn't exactly fill us with hope.

It marks another milestone in a battle of 'will-they-won't-they' for Hellboy III. Prior to directing The Hobbit, Guillermo Del Toro had expressed an interest in creating a trilogy of Hellboy films. This would follow on from the success of his original in 2004 and the 2008 sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army:

I think we would all come back to do a third Hellboy, if they can wait for me to get out of Middle-Earth, but we don't know. Ron may want to do it sooner, but I certainly know where we're going with the movie on the third one.

But even after dropping out of The Hobbit, there was still no sign of a third film. Hopes were again raised in 2012 when Perlman's appearance in full costume at a Make-A-Wish fundraiser sparked Del Toro to confirm a third was being 'brought together'. To this day there are still no further plans to tie off the trilogy.

The first two Hellboy films (based on Mike Mignola's 1993 comic book) have generated over $250,000,000 dollars worldwide. Given Perlman and Del Toro's constant quizzing on the state of the franchise, there is definitely still a market out there.

Due to Perlman's advancing age and Del Toro's box office flops like Pacific Rim, it certainly looks less and less likely that we will revisit everyone's favourite horned demon. Hellboy III languishes in the development hell of Guillermo Del Toro projects like Silent Hills and Justice League Dark. Will we ever get to see him off the pages of a comic book again?