Earlier today, a low-quality leak of the Hellboy trailer hit the internet. While Lionsgate was able to get most of the copies taken down, it looks like they decided there was no point in waiting and released the high-quality version a day early. One of the reasons for the early release could also be that the leaked version was getting lambasted by nearly everyone who watched it. The FX seem less than spectacular, the tone feels oddly silly, and the music choice for the trailer is so out of step with the film we were promised that it makes it hard to imagine the film being good.
With all that said, there are some things we have to consider. The film’s director doesn’t make the trailer. That’s handled by a company that specializes in trailers. This company, whoever they are, need a smack in the head. Using Billy Idol for this trailer is just a bad idea. We also know that there are times when CGI is still being polished or just doesn’t translate as well to a small screen. What that doesn’t excuse, however, is the fact that something feels off about David Harbour’s Hellboy face. It seems like a lower quality face than we got in the initial image releases from the film and it almost looks less expressive than the prosthetic face worn by Ron Perlman back in 2004.
In the end, this is just the first trailer. We still have a lot more to see from Hellboy before the movie hits theaters April 12, 2019.
Based on the graphic novels by Mike Mignola, Hellboy, caught between the worlds of the supernatural and human, battles an ancient sorceress bent on revenge.
Summit Entertainment presents, Millennium Films presents, a Lawrence Gordon/Lloyd Levin production, in association with Dark Horse Entertainment, a Nu Boyana production, in association with Campbell Grobman Films.