Photos from the Hollywood event
“What the f**k?!”
According to Guillermo Del Toro, that was the very first Hellboy II: The Golden Army script note – scribbled on the cover – he received from creator Mike Mignola. As it turns out, the latter was surprised by certain deviations Del Toro took from their initial discussion about the story for the sequel. Needless to say, more inspired talks about the script followed.
Animated, sometimes foul-mouthed, anecdotes like this highlighted Universal’s Hellboy II Fanboy Screening held last night in Hollywood. Audience members – consisting of crew, journalists and winners of various Hellboy competitions – were offered a pair of “shaved horns” to strap on their own heads and were then introduced to Del Toro who told them playfully, if they are expecting a film close to the comic book, skip the movie, there’s popcorn waiting for them out in the lobby. He showed no signs of lethargy after spending the last week attending the Saturn Awards, the Los Angeles Film Festival premiere and the back-to-back press days in Beverly Hills.
Dressed in his customary black pants, shirt and jacket, the director noted that his pattern of making “one film for them [i.e. the studio] and one film for me” seems to no longer apply anymore as Hellboy II is an ideal representation of a picture that is for “them” and “him.” Minutes later, the audience got to witness this. While a proper review is coming, I will say, Hellboy II is another win for Del Toro. A mesmerizing, entertaining piece of work that had me grinning ear-to-ear. And this was my second time seeing it.
When the film wrapped, Del Toro was met with a standing ovation followed by a Q&A with Mignola and stars Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Anna Walton and Luke Goss. Sans moderator, Del Toro kept the discussion flowing with questions from the audience that had him recounting stories of abusing Jones in the makeup (the Death design was initially planned by Del Toro’s long lost project Mephisto’s Bridge), executing the creature vocals for all of his films himself, working with Family Guy‘s Seth MacFarlane and bringing new B.P.R.D. member Johann Krauss to life. Jones and Blair expressed their delight when they found out their respective characters Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman were going to be fleshed out more. And Goss, who attracted quite the female fan base, chatted about his turn as Prince Nuada.
The Hellboy gang then made for the after-screening reception where fans got to meet them, take photos and garner autographs. Here are a few photos from the evening.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army opens in theaters on July 11th.
Source: Ryan Rotten
