Hellboy Reboot Script Finished, Working Title Revealed

Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen

By Joe Skrebels

Neil Marshall's rebooted Hellboy is currently called "Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen", and is aiming "to walk a razor’s edge between horror and comic book movie".

The working title was originally reported by THR, while co-writer Andrew Cosby told SilverScreenBeat how he and the others involved have settled on a tone for the project:

“I can’t really talk about specifics with regard to the story, which they’re keeping a pretty tight lid on at the moment," he explained, "but I can say that this is a darker, more gruesome version of Hellboy. Neil said from the very beginning that he wanted to walk a razor’s edge between horror and comic book movie, which was music to my ears, because that’s what I was shooting for in the script, and precisely what Mignola does so well with the comics.”

Cosby also revealed that the first version of the screenplay - co-written by himself, Christopher Golden, and comic book creator Mike Mignola - is complete:

“Honestly, everyone has just been working overtime to bring that Mignola magic to the big screen. The script is done, but work will continue as we move forward, always trying to make it the best it can be.”

So what can we infer from that title? Well, in the Hellboy comics, the "Queen of Blood" is a powerful British witch, also known as The Lady of the Lake from Arthurian legend. She's driven mad by her power, imprisoned by her fellow witches, but eventually re-emerges to clash with Hellboy. She's also fond of tearing out hearts, which would fit that "more gruesome" theme.

Hellboy seems to be the latest comic book franchise to jump on the R-rated movie train, following Deadpool's incredible success. Logan followed suit, while the Venom spin-off movie will apparently aim to be a sci-fi horror film.

This new take on Hellboy will go ahead without Hellboy 1 & 2 director and star combo, Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman. There's no word on a release date as yet.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK News Editor, and a Hellboy-Strenger Things crossover is less and less ridiculous the more he thinks about it. Follow him on Twitter.

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