We got the chance to sit down and talk to growl-made-flesh Ron Perlman this weekend at the Pacific Rim junket. Given that this is his latest collaboration with Guillermo del Toro, we couldn’t resist the chance to ask if about the prospects for another outing of their most beloved film work, Hellboy.
Though little forward motion has happened since 2008’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army (mostly due to del Toro’s busy schedule and a seeming lack of interest from industry types), Perlman thinks there could still be glowing embers of hope. “Every time I'm with Guillermo, it certainly occupies a small portion of the conversation. And believe me, when we walked away from Hellboy II, both of us had had the snot beaten out of us to the degree that neither of us wanted to ever see Hellboy again.
“Then, about a year went by and I realised we had asked the fans to invest so much in this saga, and the saga really is all about how it resolves, because this force has been summoned into the universe and the oracle says, non-negotiably, that he's going to destroy the Earth and he's been nurtured to be this force of good. So for the third instalment - it was always about the third - I said, 'Guillermo, I know what a heavy lift it'll be, I know it'll have to be twice as expensive as the first two put together.' I think there's a chance.
“Both Guillermo and I want to do it. Selma (Blair) and Doug (Jones) too, it's just a question of finding someone who thinks there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”
So there you go. Rights might be an issue, but both everyone involved with the cinematic incarnation of the camera appear committed to getting him back on screen. Pacific Rim, meanwhile, arrives on July 12.