Mignola previously talked about the film calling it the most faithful adaptation yet, but we’ll just have to wait and see how fans react to it when they watch it.
While Kesy’s version of Hellboy is not what we’re used to, The Crooked Man producer Les Weldon previously talked about casting him in the role:
“We went on a long soul-searching expedition to find the right Hellboy, and we knew that this Hellboy was gonna be a very moody, very kind of dark and creepy movie. There’s no gloss, nothing like that.
“And Jack, look, I had worked with Jack before, as had other guys in our company, and we sort of came to the same conclusion that that sort of personality he has was gonna work really nicely for that film.”
Mignola previously talked about the project and when discussing the casting of Kesy in the lead role, he said: “I’ve never met him [Kesy]. I’ve only seen pictures, and I’ve seen him a little bit in films.
“He certainly has the look. Everybody who has worked with him says he’s fantastic. This thing’s being done very fast, so I think the fact that he’s great and he’s available, that’s me being a little bit of smart-ass about it, but I just have to trust that everybody is right.”
He also talked about director Brian Taylor’s (Crank, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Gamer) dark horror vision of the film saying:
“His intention is to make a horror movie, so that’ll be nice. That’ll be interesting. I read the new draft of the screenplay yesterday, and yes, it is definitely R.
“It’s the first Hellboy script that I read and I went, ‘Oh, it’s a horror movie,’ which is what I wanted. Taylor does not have a reputation as a horror movie director.
“But, so far, we’ve had two horror movie directors make Hellboy movies and we’ve never gotten a horror movie.
“For years, we’ve been saying, if you’re going to make a Hellboy movie, make it small. And the perfect story to do that with is my personal favorite, ‘The Crooked Man.’ I think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever written.
“It’s beautifully illustrated by Richard Corben, and it’s a solid story that doesn’t involve a million different characters. Everybody actually agreed from the very beginning, ‘Yes, we want to do that one.’
“Budget-wise, it’s good because it’s a lower budget kind of a story. It’s not the Hellboy origin. It’s not Hellboy saving the world. It’s not huge. It’s a subtle, dark, little folk horror story.”
The movie also stars Adeline Rudolph (Resident Evil), Jefferson White (Yellowstone) as Tom Ferrel, Leah McNamara as Effie Kolb, Joseph Marcell as Reverend Watts, Hannah Margetson as Cora Fisher, and Martin Bassindale as the Crooked Man, among others.
The movie is expected to be released later this year.
