Hellboy III is probably never going to happen. Franchise director Guillermo Del Toro has admitted as much, explaining that no studios want to pay for it. But that hasn’t stopped Hellboy himself, Ron Perlman, from trying to build a groundswell of social media support for the final chapter. Then Perlman told Comic-Con attendees that he had to “call studio executives to apologize,” because nothing enrages studio executives more than tweets in support of movies they don’t care enough to finance.
Now, according to /Film, Perlman is clarifying that he also doesn’t want to do Hellboy III. “Let me make the record clear,” Perlman said to reporters while promoting his upcoming Amazon series, Hand Of God. “I don’t want to do Hellboy III. It’s a pain in the ass to put that makeup on and take it off. But I feel we’re obligated to finish the story. That’s it. End of conversation.”
Presumably after an awkward silence followed by Perlman explaining it wasn’t literally the end of the conversation, reporters asked him if there’s a shelf life on his playing Hellboy. The actor replied,“Because del Toro says: ‘Put the makeup on,’ you can shoot me in a wheelchair and I’ll still be Hellboy. I guess the only cutoff point is when they actually close the box. If you don’t see me get up and go, ‘Hang on, I was kidding,’ then I’m still ready.” So let it be known, studio executives: Ron Perlman doesn’t want to make Hellboy III; he doesn’t like becoming Hellboy. But he’ll do it, by God. And he’ll keep doing it until he can no longer pop out of a coffin like a Jack-in-the-box to announce he’s not actually dead.