After making a successful leap to the big screen in 2004, Mike Mignola’s Dark Horse comic-book creation, Hellboy, is set to be tooned up. IDT Ent. has licensed all animation rights to the property from Revolution Studios and plans to develop projects for television and home entertainment. Mignola will be involved as a creative producer, as will director Guillermo Del Toro, who helmed the Hellboy feature. The two will also be involved in story development and the look of the animation.
Other key creatives from the film will also take part in the animated productions, including stars Ron Perlman (Hellboy) and Selma Blair (Liz Sherman), who will reprise their roles in the audio booth. Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin of Lawrence Gordon Prods. will exec produce along with Mike Richardson of Dark Horse Comics, who produced the live action feature.
“Hellboy is a seminal figure in the comic book world and a proven winner in the feature film arena,” says IDT Ent. CEO Morris Berger. “This deal adds to the luster of our ever-growing library of intellectual properties with worldwide fan appeal. We believe Hellboy’s animated incarnation will benefit from our international sales, marketing and distribution network.”
IDT Ent.’s animation studios in Los Angeles will handle production under supervising director/supervising producer Tad Stones, who has produced and directed animated television series and full-length Disney home video features including Disney’s Atlantis: Milo’s Return, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins and Disney’s Aladdin and the King of Thieves. IDT Ent. Sales will head worldwide sales, and home video releases will be distributed through IDT’s Anchor Bay Ent.
The Hellboy comics and movie tell the story of a demon who was summoned to Earth by Nazis to perpetrate evil, but ends up becoming a hero under the care of the benevolent Dr. Broom. Hellboy handles the most dangerous missions for Broom’s Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, a band of misfits dedicated to protecting mankind from dark powers.
Revolution Studios’ live-action adaptation of the popular comics grossed more than $100 million worldwide, enough to warrant a sequel. Mignola and del Toro are now collaborating on Hellboy 2, scheduled for release in 2007.
‘
Leave a Reply