THE MARKET: “Hellboy II” goes into wide release on Friday, July 11, 2008. How much will it gross in its opening weekend as first reported by Variety on July 13? Each dollar of the share price represents millions of dollars in sales. Shares bought at $45, for example, would be worth $78 if the movie grosses $78 million. Trading closes on July 11 at 9 a.m. ET.
THE DATA: Guillermo Del Toro is back for round two of “Hellboy.” Last time around, in 2004, the comic book flick disappointed, pulling in a paltry $23 million in its opening weekend and less than $60 million overall. Answer to a failure: make a sequel.
OUR TAKE: Apparently in this version, Del Toro plans to play up Hellboy’s sensitive side. According to Hellboy himself (Ron Perlman), his relationship with Liz (Selma Blair) “gets tested”: “You get to see the guy you saw in the first film, who was filled with swagger and one-liners and arrogance, you get to see him completely at sea emotionally.” Granted, a love-smitten demon with leather pants might attract some closet S&M moviegoers, but to us this superfluous sequel looks like pure hell. – Earl Monroe

LEARN MORE:
See the “Hellboy II” home page.

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