Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, sweepstakes, and more!
WIRE Buzz: Perlman passed on Hellboy reboot; Mordo back for Doctor Strange 2; and Hot Spot
Ron Perlman will always be the definitive live-action Hellboy for a lot of people. While Lionsgate decided to recast David Harbour in the role for its ill-fated reboot last year, the production didn't want to shut out the Guillermo del Toro alums entirely. In fact, an olive branch was extended to Perlman in the form of some sort of role (most likely a cameo).
"The reboot was something I had the opportunity to participate in and decided that the only version of Hellboy I'm interested in, is the one I do with Guillermo and so in walking away from it, I truly walked away from it, and haven't seen it or heard much about it," the actor told ComicBookMovie. "I wished them well, but it was not in my bailiwick."
Doug Jones, who played Abe Sapien in the first two Hellboy films, was also offered a small role in the reboot, but turned it down because he was too busy with Star Trek: Discovery. Both he and Perlman ended up dodging a silver bullet, as the new iteration turned out to be a flop, both critically and financially.
Perlman did revive some hope for a third movie in the GDT series, citing the director's busy schedule as the main reason for why it hasn't been made yet, rather than financial ambivalence on the part of a studio.
"The only thing that's stopping the third Hellboy film is the fact that Guillermo [del Toro] is one of the busiest guys in the business," Perlman explained. "He couldn't do it with all the stuff he's got lined up, even if [he] wanted to."
Karl Mordo is officially coming back for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Chiwetel Ejiofor recently confirmed to ScreenRant.
"We're hoping to start pretty soon is what I can tell you," the actor said. "So, you know, as soon as possible. We're all really excited to get going and to get cracking with it. I can't wait."
Last we saw of the character, Mordo was on his way to becoming a villain like he is in the comics. Disillusioned by what he perceives as abuses of the Time Stone by Stephen and the Ancient One, the character makes it his mission to shave down the world's quota of sorcerers, starting with Benjamin Bratt's Jonathan Pangborn.
Sam Raimi is set to direct the Doctor Strange sequel (taking over from Scott Derrickson), which is said to tie into the events of WandaVision on Disney+. It's being written by Loki showrunner Michael Waldron and slated to hit theaters March 25, 2022.
Ejiofor next appears in Netflix's adaptation of The Old Guard (premiering July 10).
Polish director Agnieszka Smoczyńska has been hired to helm Hot Stop, a dystopian crime drama with elements of witchcraft, Deadline confirmed today.
Set in the late 21st century, the film pairs up "a tough investigator" with "a young woman representing a feared, exotic religion" after a mysterious homicide at a refugee camp.
Klaudia Smieja-Rostworowska (High Life) and Christos V. Konstantakopoulos (Before Midnight) are producing the project, which is creatively backed by The Sundance Institute. It is expected to be a non-English film. Robert Bolesto (The Lure) will write the screenplay.
Smoczyńska is going to make her English language debut with Silent Twins (starring Black Panther's Letitia Wright), which plans to shoot in the fall.
