Hellboy is one of Hollywood's favorite characters. So why doesn't he know a new movie is in the works?

A1 Digital India News: Even ordinary movie lovers can't wait to see one of film's most iconic characters return to the big screen. Instead, a bizarre and messy marketing campaign left even industry insiders unaware of the film's existence, as fans wondered why the studio released it before its release.

Guillermo del Toro's 2005 and 2008 "Hellboy" films, in which comedian Mike Mignola brought the beloved monster detective to life, are cult classics. Until now, fans have been pleading with del Toro and lead actor Ron Perlman to make a third installment. But the sequel was never made, and Perlman told Business Insider earlier this year that he agreed to never play Hellboy again.

Instead, fans are getting the much-anticipated 2019 reboot of "Hellboy," directed by "Stranger Things" actor David Harbour. This led fans to want production company Millennium Media to rescue and bring justice to one of the most recognizable comic book heroes outside of Marvel and DC.

When Millennium Media announced in February 2023 that it was working on a second Hellboy film, "The Crooked Man," fans were eager to see what director Brian Taylor - known for making action films with Zaha's visual style - The Passion - would do. How can we continue to make great films - what will we bring to the franchise?

"Hellboy: The Crooked Man" takes the hero back to Mignola's comic book horror roots. In it, Hellboy (Jack Kesy) follows a dangerous spirit named the Crooked Man (Martin Bassindale) to a small town in the Appalachian Mountains in 1959.

But after filming finished in Bulgaria in May 2023, Millennium Media opted for a year of radio silence instead of teasing the public with off-set photos, countdown trailers, and the actors doing press tours.

No one knew what Casey Hellboy looked like until a surprise teaser dropped on YouTube in early July this year, and he's definitely not one of the "hot" guys as you might expect. Fans were disappointed by the poor CGI and bad dialogue in the teaser.

When a higher-quality trailer with more scary scenes arrived in late July, fans were pleasantly surprised.

But surprise turned to confusion when a Vietnamese poster was shared on social media in August. Its release dates in different countries range from August 29 in Portugal to November 22 in Spain. Normally, releases in different countries are divided based on days or weeks rather than months.

As of July 18, the film still has no release date in the United States, which is often the highlight of an English-language film from an American studio. All of this suggests there are no concrete plans to release the film.

Perhaps most surprising is that "Hellboy: The Crooked Man" isn't as disastrous as its marketing makes it seem. It's not perfect, but it's a great horror film with Hellboy as a fresh take on the idea of ​​cinematic universes and spinoffs.

Fans wondered if Millennial Media made 'Hellboy: The Twisted Man' to retain the rights to the character

Ethan Baird, a video game animator who runs HellboyNews, one of the X character's biggest fan accounts, told BI that the studio's half-hearted approach to marketing is "a missed opportunity because they have so much IP that they're exhausted."

"It's a low-budget horror movie, we don't see that in this genre anymore. It's very disappointing because the 2019 movie is very bad, but they worked very hard on the marketing." He added, "This time, it's the exact opposite: nobody knew this movie was coming." The question is why? It's unknown, and this void of information is filled with speculation and rumors. Some believe that Millennium Media made "The Twisted Man" on a small budget with the sole intention of retaining the rights to Hellboy. "I think they probably did it to retain the rights because the movie was made on a low budget in one year and that's a long time before filming starts," Baird said. "I feel bad saying that because obviously this is a passion project for Brian Taylor, and it feels dirty to put this stamp on it. But from a studio perspective, it makes a lot of sense."

Rob Mitchell, director of theatrical insights at Gower Street Analytics, also told BI he was unaware of the film's existence until the trailer was released.

He said sometimes studios rush to make movies to avoid losing rights to characters or franchises, but "The Twisted Man" is not known that way because "the rights changed hands between studios.'' The films were previously produced by Revolution Studios, Universal Pictures and Millennium Media.

Similarly, Millennium Media and its U.S. distributor, Ketchup Entertainment, may hope to turn a profit by selling the films to streaming services, potentially cutting down on marketing.