There’s a howl in the night. Somewhere, deep in the dark woods of Bulgaria, a pack of wolves stir. They’re hungry, thirsty, and they’ve just spotted their next meal. The black dogs, with eyes that glow in the moon’s light, swarm on their targets, humans unaware that they are being tracked until the beasts are upon them. And then, just as their tongues lick across their sharpened canines… a lot of “oooo”s and “awww”s ensue.
Members of craft services on the set ofHellboycome out to greet the dogs for some snacks and a whole lot of ear scratching. According to production designerPaul Kirby, they’re just some of the stray dogs that roam the city of Sofia and are tracked by the municipality. With production on the reboot set up in the hills on the outskirts of the capital, the pups are regulars. They come every day to feed on scraps — and the crew is more than happy to oblige for the cost of a head scratch and a few cheek licks.
It’s part of what makes the film set such a strange place. As night falls on a windy August night, so windy that it blows away all effects from the smoke machines pumping mist into the evening air, set pieces like the chicken-legged hut of Baba Yaga and the eery display of Merlin’s Tomb, begin blending into the shadows. Then there’sDavid Harbourhimself, star ofStranger Things, who is rarely seen by even his own cast mates out of Hellboy makeup. There always seems to be a horned red beast of the apocalypse walking about in a trench coat for coffee breaks at any given hour.
It’s all for the benefit of the production, which took up the unenviable task of creating a new kind of Hellboy movie years after directorGuillermo del Toromade his two beloved iterations. ThisHellboy, a new reboot with a new star and new story, is more horror than fantasy. “It certainly has its roots more in that world of gothic horror,” directorNeil Marshallexplains to press on set. “I think that’s part of the texture of the film, as well. Quite a bit of it is set in the U.K. and it ties in… It’s taking Hellboy out of his comfort zone that we haven’t seen him in before.”
For producerLloyd Levin, who’s been involved withHellboysince the age ofRon Perlmanas “Big Red,” it’s now about maintaining the “DNA” of the comics fromMike Mignola— which, inherently, are more R rated. When Hellboy, still a member of the B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) at the beginning of the film, returns to London to deal with a bunch of giants, he’s alerted to the resurrection of The Blood Queen, an evil sorceress with a thirst for vengeance.
“Having a female villain just felt good,” Marshall remarks of castingResident Evil’sMilla Jovovichin the role. “It felt right and was good that this woman comes around and kicks the shit out of Hellboy.”
Instead ofJohn Hurtas Professor Trevor “Broom” Bruttenholm, Hellboy’s adopted human father, it’sIan McShanein the role. Instead of sidekicks amphibian Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) and pyrotechnic Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) from the Del Toro films, it’s B.P.R.D. agent Benjamin Daimio (Daniel Dae Kim) and “human ouija board” Alice Monaghan (Sasha Lane).
“Some people inadvertently refer to it asHellboy 3and I desperately want to avoid that,” Marshall says. “I don’t want it to be seen as that. It’s a successor to that. I’d just like people to see it in its own right as a new take on Hellboy, and hopefully an amazing one.”
In exploring the Bulgarian set, here’s a primer for this new era ofHellboy.
Hellboyopens in theaters on April 12th. Tickets are on sale now athttps://tickets.hellboy.movie/
For more of ourHellboyset visit coverage, peruse the links below:
How ‘Hellboy’ Rebooted the Franchise Without Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman
