Guillermo del Toro took some time to chat with his fans via a Reddit AMA interview, where he updated them on the status of the long-awaited third chapter of the “Hellboy” film saga, as well as tantalizing them with details on his upcoming FX series, “The Strain.”
When asked when fans might expect “Hellboy 3,” del Toro said plainly that it wasn’t on the horizon. “We have gone through basically every studio and asked for financing, and they are not interested,” he elaborated. “I think that the first movie made its budget back, and a little bit of profit, but then it was very, very big on video and DVD.” He said that the second film followed a similar path.
But with the DVD market drying up, “from a business point of view, all the studios know is that you don’t have that safety net of the DVD and video, so they view the project as dangerous,” he explained.
Del Toro went on to say that he’d love to get involved with a third “Hellboy” film, even offering a teaser as to what story he’d tell.
“The idea for it was to have Hellboy finally come to terms with the fact that his destiny … is to become the beast of the Apocalypse … and he has to do it, in order to be able to ironically vanquish the foe that he has to face in the 3rd film,” del Toro told his fans. “He has to become the beast of the Apocalypse to be able to defend humanity, but at the same time he becomes a much darker being. It’s a very interesting ending to the series, but I don’t think it will happen.”
Also read: FX Removing Some ‘Strain’ Billboards That Revolted People
Luckily, del Toro fans do have future projects to look forward to, like his upcoming film “Crimson Peak,” and vampire series “The Strain,” premiering on FX this Sunday.
Teasing the adaptation of the book trilogy he wrote with Chuck Hogan, del Toro described “The Strain” as “a return to the myth of the vampire as a brutal parasitic creature that is ruthless and scary and steeped in the darkest parts of mythology and human history.
“These are not well-groomed guys with 2 little fangs and a six pack. These are not brooding existential tweeners,” he added in a clear jab to recent vampires like those featured in “Twilight,” “True Blood” and “The Vampire Diaries.” “These things are out to drain you and kill you in a matter of seconds. So I hope you enjoy a series that has a very very dark but hopefully very entertaining return to vampires as monsters, and not Saturday dates.”
See photos: ‘The Strain’ Billboard Freakout: How Gross Is the Vampire Drama?
The message was certainly received when FX began putting up some disturbing billboards to promote the show last month. One of those images featured a worm crawling through an eyeball. The campaign received such a negative response from the public that the network quickly announced that it would be removing and amending them.
With all that publicity, fans are show to know what kind of disturbing imagery they can expect on the series premiere of “The Strain,” Sunday at 10/9c.