Hellboy 3 is officially dead (update)

Hellboy 3, the followup to Guillermo del Toro’s 2008 Hellboy II: The Golden Army, is officially off the docket, the director confirmed today.

Del Toro tweeted out the announcement this morning, affirming that he had spoken to all parties who were originally involved in the followup and there was no chance the movie was ever going to be made.

Based on del Toro’s tweet, it seems like everyone from executives at Universal Pictures to actors involved, including Hellboy’s actor, Ron Perlman, weren’t interested in pursuing the project. Still, despite the fact that it’s been almost a decade since the last sequel was released, the disappointment from fans who were holding out for some kind of miracle was apparent as soon as the announcement was made.

Although the director has been adamant since 2014 that the sequel probably wasn’t going to happen, he got fans hopes up in January after tweeting about sitting down with Perlman and creator Mike Mignola to talk about moving forward with it. The tweet followed a poll the director put forth on the social media platform asking fans to vote over whether or not they would want a followup a decade after the fact.

This isn’t the first time a del Toro project has been on the chopping block, but it’s a rare moment for the director to finally give in. For years it seemed like Pacific Rim: Uprising, the sequel to del Toro’s giant-monster-versus-giant-mech warriors movie wasn’t going to be made, either. But unlike this situation, del Toro was adamant that a Pacific Rim sequel would happen. Now it’s in development, but with del Toro sitting in on the film as an executive producer instead of directing.

Pacific Rim: Uprising will premiere Feb. 23, 2018.

Update: Del Toro followed up to his original tweet with updated information, noting that just because he wasn’t going to be involved with the series doesn’t mean it couldn’t live on somewhere way.

Del Toro’s tweet comes after Hellboy creator Mike Mignolia tweeted the franchise could continue on in some way, but the director wouldn’t be involved.

As of this time, there is still no word from Universal Pictures on whether or not Hellboy 3 will actually happen.