Filmmakers and actors exclusively announce release date, cast and plot of “Crooked Man”

Hellboy – The Cursed Man Author and creator Mike Mignola confirmed that the upcoming film will be the most faithful adaptation of his work to date.

The next Hellboy Film follows Mignola's favorite Hellboy Plot. In this smaller, more intimate affair, the title character attempts to break a witch's curse when he becomes stranded in rural Appalachia.

The Crooked Man is the fourth live-action entry in the franchise, with Jack Kesy being the third to transform into Hellboy himself.

The latest version of the IP, 2019 Hellboy, starring David Harbour, did not fare well. It currently has a critics approval rating of 17% on Rotten Tomatoes. Needless to say, Crooked Man has a difficult task to accomplish.

Everything we know about the release and cast of Hellboy: The Crooked Man

At the time of writing, Hellboy – The Cursed Man has no official release date.

However, in an interview with Screen Rant at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), director Brian Taylor revealed that he expects a September release date, but no further details were announced.

The cast is confirmed to include the following talented actors:

• Jack Kesy – Hellboy
• Lea McNamara – Effie Kolb
• Adeline Rudolph – Bobbie Jo Song
• Jefferson White-Tom Ferrell
• Joseph Marcell – Reverend Watts
• Martin Bassindale – The Crooked Man
• Hannah Margetson – Cora Fisher
• Carola Colombo – Sarah

The cast of Hellboy: The Crooked Man speaks to The Direct at SDCC

In a series of exclusive interviews with Russ Milheim of The Direct at San SDCC, the cast and filmmakers behind Hellboy – The Cursed Man discussed the upcoming entry in the fan-favorite franchise.

When asked how the team approached this particular version after one successful one and another that was not as well received, writer and creator Mike Mignola said: “There is no magic formula.”

He also confirmed that The Crooked Man “is the most faithful adaptation of [his] Material:”

“There's no magic formula for 'Oh, this is the version that's going to work… All I can say for sure is that this is the most faithful adaptation of my material. But over the years we've developed a whole audience of 'Hellboy' fans who aren't familiar with the source material, so you never know exactly how they're going to vote. So we just hope for the best.”

One thing that The Crooked Man apart from other Hellboy stories is that it is a shorter story than the audience is used to from this character.

“We developed a story that was not bombastic,” with Mignola instead choose “a popular horror story:”

“Well, we based it on a story that wasn't bombastic. We based it on a folk horror story, the folkiest horror story, 'Hellboy.' It was my favorite story because it didn't have all the baggage of the end of the world, giant demons and all that stuff. It's based on real Appalachian folklore that I almost magically put together into a storyline. I read all of these things and something in the back of my mind said, 'Oh, we're working on combining all of these elements that you find.'”

Mignola confirmed that this was “A deceitful man” Film, there is “a little bit The Chain Coffin also add there:”

“At some point the little man in the back of my head said, 'We're done. We did it. We put all the pieces together!' And it was just a good character movie. It was more of a Tom movie than a 'Hellboy' movie. So we had to bring in a piece of another 'Hellboy' story. … We said it's 'A Crooked Man' with a little bit of 'The Chain Coffin.' Boom, that's it. It's going to follow that lead. It's going to follow that story as far as we can, and that's it.”

Director Brian Taylor admitted that he did not see this film as another “Iteration or restart” but made it his goal “to adapt this story as faithfully as possible, [he] may:”

“I didn't think of it as a rehash or a reboot or anything like that. I had nothing to do with those movies. But I love the character and I love the books, so I approached it very simply. Imagine if I were to adapt a Stephen King story. I'm just going to adapt that story and make it as true to the truth as possible.”

Mignola also confirmed that the film “[doesn’t] see BPRD Headquarters” or “But Sapien:”

“And the thing is, because this is such a standalone 'Hellboy' story, we don't see BPRD headquarters or Abe Sapien. We don't see any of that other stuff. You could take that and put it into your favorite Hellboy.”

Jack Kesy leads the role of Hellboy. He is the third person to wear the red makeup, horns and the iconic fist.

“I saw it as a challenge,” When asked how he deals with the pressure of following everything that came before, the actor replied:

“I saw it as a challenge. I love challenges. The more I'm put against a wall in a corner, the better I get. So no pressure. It was a collaborative film. In a way, so much was made for you, Mike obviously created a comic book and we pulled directly from the comic book, sometimes even frame by frame. Except maybe for Bobbie Jo Song, the character, and a few scenes that were spliced ​​in.”

“It stays true to the comic” said Kesy, adding how “it was a good challenge:”

“It's really Mike's baby and it's true to the comic. So in a way the road work was done for us. But as far as my own design, I mean, I could relate to him, other than he has horns in a tail and he's half demon. When I saw his personality, I thought, 'Oh, this is going to be fun.' Yeah. So it was a good challenge.”

The actor then compared The Crooked Man To “a campfire story:”

“It's like a campfire story. It's really small, more reserved, more human, and I would even say [more] understandable. It's like survival. There's no glamping. It's camping, you know? It's the bare minimum. It's Hellboy, Bobbie Jo and Tom on a journey.”

When asked if fans will like this version of the character, Adeline Rudolph, who plays Bobbie Jo Song, said that this is always part of working on a major IP:

“When you tackle something with intellectual property, you're afraid that the fans won't love it. What we have on our side is Mike [Mignola]! So we're excited and happy that he's here. We're so honored that he co-wrote this script. We really hope people love it. I feel like all the other previous versions stand on their own two feet. There's no point in comparing them. I think they're all great. We just hope that people are open-minded and give this one a chance, especially since it's based on the specific comic book version of The Crooked Man.”

The actress noted that the most unique thing about this experience was “playing opposite someone who wears a full denture every day:”

“The really unique thing was playing alongside someone who wore full prosthetics every day, a red man… Jack made him so human that I forgot he was red… He did a fantastic job of grounding him and making him so real.”

Actor Jefferson White, who plays Tom Ferrell in the film, a man who dabbles in witchcraft, was also on hand at SDCC to talk about his time on the film.

White called the role “Such a great gift” describes his character as “relatively normal guy gets into crazy circumstances:”

“Our main reference point for this film was the book 'The Crooked Man,' which is Mike Mignola's favorite story from Hellboy. We tried to use it as a reference for this film first and foremost. And Tom on paper is this relatively normal guy who gets caught up in crazy circumstances. In every frame, he's being attacked from all sides with really bizarre stuff that he's never experienced before. And that's such a great gift. As an actor, your job is just to be there and react to these amazing special effects that are coming at you from all directions.”

Hellboy – The Cursed Man The release is planned for September 2024.

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