AI Character Designs Used in ‘Hellboy: The Crooked Man’, Says Millennium Films President Jonathan Yunger

Millennium Films President Jonathan Yunger reveals that the new ‘Hellboy: The Crooked Man‘ movie used AI for multiple character designs.

The studio first filmed a demon character practically, but it doesn’t look great, according to Yunger.

In an article by the Motion Picture Association, Yunger said, “I wasn’t a fan of AI.” Yunger added, “After shooting a demon character practically (for a film called Hellboy due out later this year) that didn’t look great, he turned to AI to come up with a new design, on a platform he built himself. “I was able to make 3000 creature designs in an hour. So now I can start to cherry-pick and edit those, and then send it to visual effects.”

‘Hellboy: The Crooked Man’ Director Debunks AI Rumors: “No AI Used”

On Twitter (X), ‘Hellboy: The Crooked Man’ director Brian Taylor debunked the article, clarifying that the comment referred to a different film, ‘The Offering’, and added that the article was “probably written by AI”. Taylor confirmed that in ‘Hellboy: The Crooked Man’, zero AI was used on practical effects, emphasizing that the Hellboy looks phenomenal.

Taylor said, “He was misquoted, my man. The comment was referring to a different film, THE OFFERING. Rest assured, there is zero AI used on HBTCM, and our gloriously practical Hellboy looks phenomenal. Probably the article was written by AI.”

“To be clear, there is exactly zero AI used on Hellboy, the crooked man. Both characters—Hellboy and the Crooked Man—were created and shot 100% gloriously practical, as the movie gods intended, with no CGI enhancement… and look AMAZING.”Taylor said, “he was misquoted, my man. the comment was referring to a different film, THE OFFERING. rest assured there is zero AI used on HBTCM and our gloriously practical hellboy looks phenomenal. probably the article was written by AI…”

The film is directed by Taylor from a screenplay by Mignola and Chris Golden, adapted from the limited series written by Mignola. The film stars Jack Kesy as Hellboy/Anung Un Rama, Jefferson White as Tom Ferrell, Hannah Margetson as Cora Fisher, Joseph Marcell as Reverend Nathaniel Armstrong Watts, Leah McNamara as Effie Kolb, and Adeline Rudolph as Bobbie Jo Song.

In the 1950s, Hellboy and a rookie BPRD agent, stranded in rural Appalachia, discover a small community haunted by witches, led by a local devil with a troubling connection to Hellboy’s past: the Crooked Man.

Produced by Millennium Media in partnership with Dark Horse Entertainment and Campbell Grobman Film. It’s the first movie from Millennium’s collaboration with Telepool, owned by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. Producers include Mike Richardson from Dark Horse Entertainment, along with Jeffrey Greenstein, Jonathan Yunger, Les Weldon, Rob Van Norden, and Yariv Lerner from Millennium Media. Sam Schulte is also a co-producer on behalf of Millennium Media.

The film’s executive producers include Mignola, Millennium Media’s Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, and Tanner Mobley, Telepool’s Michael Müllner and Julia Müntefering, Campbell Grobman Films’ Lati Grobman, and Christa Campbell, as well as Ketchup Entertainment’s Gareth West, Artur Galstian, and Vahan Yepremyan.

The release date for ‘Hellboy: The Crooked Man’ is set for November 2024.