Hellboy

Raise your hand if you had already forgotten that a new ‘Hellboy’ movie came out just last month.  The reboot, helmed by Neil Marshall, and starring David Harbour in the title role, opened in third place with a dismal $12 million haul the weekend of April 12th, and plunged to the #10 spot the very next week, earning just $3.8M more.  Now its finally left theaters for good, and after five weeks, earned only $21.9 million, on a production budget of $50M.  Meaning that it cost Lionsgate $28.1M just on production.  Its promotion and advertising budget was likely an additional $50M, if not more.

With foreign ticket sales added in, it made a total of $40M, which is still less than its production budget and once again, doesn’t factor in P&A.

 

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In contrast, Guillermo del Toro‘s first ‘Hellboy’, released in 2004, made $99.32M worldwide, on a budget of $66M.  His direct sequel, ‘Hellboy: The Golden Army’ earned $160.38M globally in ’08, with a production budget of $88M.  So the new movie made almost $60M less than the first, and that’s not even adjusted for inflation.

Audiences hated it, with opening weekend viewers giving it a C score through tracking service CinemaScore, and 2½ stars out of 5 through another service, PostTrak.  Critics hated it even worse, with it resting at a dismal 16% on Rotten Tomatoes.  Its audience score on RT is 59% which is downright generous.

Mila Jovovich, who played the villain in the new ‘Hellboy’, Nimue the Blood Queen, doesn’t give an F.  She lashed out at critics on Instagram the weekend when the film opened:

 

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It’s always stressful on opening weekend and @hellboymovie is no different. You work super hard to make something fun and entertaining and have to absorb the negative reviews by movie critics, but hey! THAT’S SHOWBIZ BABY.😎 All I’m gonna say before going to bed is this: All my raddest films have been slammed by critics. It’s fucking hilarious. Dazed and Confused? Seriously? Classic movie. The Fifth Element! You would have thought that was the worst movie ever made if you read the reviews in like ‘98😂. Zoolander? Slammed. Joan of Arc? Disaster. Resident Evil? Let’s not even go there. Anyway, every one of those films is now a cult classic. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. And this will be too. Mark my words. Why? 1. Because of the amazing actors. David Harbour. Ian Mcshane. Daniel Dae Kim. Sasha Lane. They are all so damn wonderful and talented, the movie is worth seeing just because they’re in it, especially one that’s so much fun to experience as this is. 2. @mikemignola who created the #Hellboy comics helped write the script and was on set every single day to make this film as close to his vision as possible. 3. It was directed by one of the greats. #NeilMarshall who brought us “The Descent”. One of the greatest horror movies ever. Trust me, you’re gonna have a blast watching the new @hellboymovie. I mean, one critic said “it’s a loud, gory mess only a teenager would love.”😂👍🏼👊🏼HELL yea Hellboy! Let’s have some fun! And with that, I wish you all a good night! Xo m😘

A post shared by Milla Jovovich (@millajovovich) on

I don’t know that EVERY one of those movies is a classic, and I don’t believe that ‘Dazed & Confused’ actually got poor reviews.  (It has a 91% on RT now.  Also, she was barely in it!)

There is the chance that the new ‘Hellboy’ could find its audience once it arrives on digital, Blu-Ray, streaming, or maybe even cable.  Those that did enjoy it, like the fact that the film includes over-the-top violence and gore.  And as Jovovich stated, the cast is very strong.  Anything could happen in the future.

Did you see ‘Hellboy’ in theaters?  If so, do you think it deserved the beating it took?  Or did people miss the point?

 

Source: ComicBook.com