HELLBOY: THE CROOKED MAN Producer Explains Why Jack Kesy Is the Right Choice for Big Red

There’s a new Hellboy movie coming with a new actor taking on the role of Big Red. The movie is titled Hellboy: The Crooked Man, and Jack Kesy is the actor who will be taking on the role of Hellboy. I have no idea if this is going to be a good movie or not, or if Kesy is the right guy for the Hellboy job, but I do like the story that the movie is telling!

The script for the film is being written by franchise creator Mike Mignola and Chris Golden. The story is based on the comic of the same name, and in that story, Hellboy teams up with a rookie BPRD agent named Tom Ferrell, and find themselves stranded in 1950s rural Appalachia. “There, they discover a small community haunted by witches, led by a local devil with a troubling connection to Hellboy’s past: the Crooked Man.” The story will “expand Hellboy’s world through one of the most beloved issues of the comic series.”

Ron Perlman is the fan-favorite version of Hellboy, and while David Harbour fit the role, the movie ultimately was a huge disappointment. One thing the two have in common is they both had a built-in fan base before being cast. Jack Kesy? I didn’t really even know who that guy was or what he’d been in. He definitely doesn’t have the same reputation as Perlman and Harbour, but the producers of the new film obviously felt he has what it takes to play the character.

The Crooked Man producer Les Weldon previously worked with Kesy and because of that, he knew what he could bring to the table. When talking about why he feels Kesy is the right guy for the job, Weldon told Collider:

"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."

So, it’s all about Kesy’s personality. We’ll just have to wait and see if he actually does have what it takes to pull this off. The producers are really hoping that this film will launch a whole new series of Hellboy movies. That all hinges on the script, story, and casting.

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.”

Mignola also said that this movie is one of the most faithful adaptations yet. So, that’s a good sign.