Hellboy (2019) - Director talks Bad Scripts and Studio Interference

In this excerpt from my interview with director Neil Marshall, we discuss the problems of modern studio filmmaking - bad scripts and constant interference.

[@georgebrown8493]

Wow, let’s be honest it’s a really rare event when a director comes forward and speaks the truth. Good on him, respect him more for admitting mistakes.

[@MrOrcshaman]

It wasn't even his mistakes, he was being told what to do by the higher ups making it not his project, no creative control, which just blows chunks

[@thelivingfreakshow5892]

Specially compared to someone like Rian Johnson.

[@Soldier4USA2005]

@@thelivingfreakshow5892 RIGHT?!? Talk about how NOT to respond to fans of a franchise you just made a shitty movie for. And Kathleen Kennedy made things SOOOO much worse.

[@coyotefever105]

Joel Schumacher owned up to Batman and Robin

[@MrOrcshaman]

@@coyotefever105 yeah, I have a ton of respect for directors that admit they made a bad movie and explain why it went that way, even having the balls to say the higher up screwed with them

[@mrdee2454]

Well fair play to him being honest about it. Sounds like impossible job, I am sorry they buried him like that.

[@misterpink8099]

Agreed

[@maxmuetze9083]

Idk... I had a lot of such situations in my live, but I saw it as my job to headbang through... If someone tried to tell me how to do my job the situation would escalate very fast... and useally I would plow through... and do my thing nonetheless... Once I told an meddling boss: He hired me for my expertise and if he thinks he can do it better I will stand back and let him do it... For the rest of the project he looked at me with admiration... and the product was one of the successful ones.

[@natejennings5884]

Well, the footage being 90% CGI and an insufferably woke actor playing the protagonist probably didn't help.

[@foreverpinkf.7603]

Perlman knew what things to come so he refused.

[@MarkMcDaniel]

@@maxmuetze9083 -- That doesn't fly in Hollyweird. When you're under contract, you can get fired, be fined lots of money for breach of contract, and risk getting blackballed from the industry. Commies have to commie.

[@nateedwardsvideos17000]

This was a great interview. Thank you Drinker and I really like the VIP lounge format

[@CriticalDrinkerAfterHours]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@therecanbeonlyone801]

@@CriticalDrinkerAfterHours enjoyed the interview. Is it possible to do shorts where Neil Marshall discusses his other movies? Especially Doomsday which is a favourite of mine. Thanks

[@frankgesuele6298]

Behind the scenes can be more interesting then the movie.

[@PortalMaster2112]

Neil will always have Dog Soldiers on his resume. That is a film to be proud of.

[@Hopium500]

Centurion was very solid also, And the descent. He also directed Blackwater arguably the best GOT episode ever.

[@PortalMaster2112]

@@Hopium500 oh absolutely all of the above!

[@archstanton9073]

But he also has Doomsday....a film not to be proud of.

[@johnnyskinwalker4095]

@@Hopium500 Watchers on the Wall

[@Ravell52]

I didn't hate Doomsday. Didn't love it but didn't hate it either.

[@PorchBandit]

The worst part about what they're saying at the end is that in Hollywood, a single bad movie can ruin you, and no matter how much studio interference there was, they'll never accept that blame.

[@haydenmonson4773]

Happy to hear it straight from Mr. Marshall’s mouth. Hellboy was one of my favorite movies growing up, both movies, Perlman and Toro were a killer duo…. Sad to have seen the recent one fold the way it did when we could’ve had a trilogy 🤦🏼

[@UwU5437]

@Sara V. Because we have ghostly images of roles actors played stuck in our head, ex:Ron P. Being a badass even irl, it's a bad habit, I like Tobi Maguire, not sure he's neighborhood friendly and "heroic" irl lmao

[@dugeniadugeniadugeniadugen5266]

@Sara V. oh wow. An actor turns out not to be the person we envision. Enjoy his work not his politics. Not really that hard to do.

[@oscarjimenezgarrido7591]

@@dugeniadugeniadugeniadugen5266 I can see and understand both takes, hers and yours. I definitely can enjoy the work of someone I don't like as a person in real life, but I find it's the most difficult with actors, in contrast with writers, comic book artists, musicians or any behind-the-cameras filmmaking job. If I come to the point of nearly despising someone's real life smugness, for example- I'm looking at you, Brie and Jared - I definitely have a harder time than usual ignoring their personal shortcomings as to not allow them to permeate into and taint my perception of their performance. I won't hesitate to objectively acknowledge the good quality of any given work from these actors, if I perceive it as so, independently from my personal dislike of them, but I absolutely won't _enjoy_ it the same way I would if I didn't dislike them as persons.

[@andrewreynolds912]

I'm sure he could of made it a lot better if they actually listened to him!

[@tychomonolith9998]

Marshall definitely needs to make more movies, The Descent was a film that really messed me up the first time watching it in the cinema, it literally gave me palpitations, a true horror classic and one which incidentally has a cast of brilliantly written strong women - Hollywood should take note!

[@Hopium500]

As someone who suffers with claustrophobia, that movie gets under my skin like no others.

[@brianbagnall3029]

I love caving and decent horror and was looking forward to seeing The Descent. Didn't work for me.

[@karlrudd8914]

@@brianbagnall3029 Really? What didn't you enjoy

[@ChurchofCthulhu]

The Descent was trite, boring sh!t.

[@blaineedwards8078]

@@karlrudd8914 It was a huge disappointment compared to the book. Why did they have to go so far from the original story?

[@keeganh8874]

It's pretty impressive that Drinkers got directors of movies with budgets that size coming on here, I'm sure he appreciated the chance to say his piece about how it all went down. Great content.

[@SilentSilvia]

Neil is the man and I was so excited for him to have taken over Hellboy, but boy was that a bad movie experience. It reeked of lack of confidence and amateurish approach, which was something he never had shown before. Now it makes sense.

[@TF2Fan101]

Personally, I was put off by the level of swearing in the movie, like the film was saying, ‘See? This isn’t like Del Toro’s Hellboy movies! The characters drop F-Bombs and there’s blood and gore!’

[@blatherskite3009]

2:20 A really important point there about the demise of the "mid-budget" film, because that does seem to be the sweet-spot between a director being able to deliver an on-screen experience that doesn't feel too restrained by a puny budget while also keeping the studio interference at a more manageable level. When I think back to the films I've loved, where a director had an adequate budget to "realise their vision" while retaining enough creative freedom to do the film their way, they're mostly in that "mid-budget" zone.

[@kyleshockley1573]

Accounting shenanigans aside, when studios quit trying to make international movies and just focus on more of a domestic audience, the budget requirements will probably mellow out. I think yuan fever drove alot of this need for tent-pole franchise films, so when the sheen wears off of that approach hopefully more creative chances can be taken again on smaller budgets.

[@V742]

I think the same thing has happened with video games as well; they seem to all be vying for mega blockbuster status or indie darling. Jim Sterling made a decent video about it (before he went off his trolley)

[@blatherskite3009]

@@kyleshockley1573 That's a good point. I watched the UK film industry shift toward gearing films for "international audiences" (which meant America back then) rather than just making films primarily to please the home crowd, with international success being considered a bonus. Fast-forward a few decades, and now I see comments from Americans bemoaning that their film industry is doing basically the same thing, except of course for them it's the Chinese market. But it's following the same course. They start by awkwardly inserting actors intended to ensure appeal to that market. Then you get removal of the more "quirky" homegrown aspects that might confuse or offend those foreign audiences; a dialling-down of the "Britishness" (or American-ness) of the films. And then you end up with films that present a sort of "theme park" version of their country of origin, ticking all the cliches that international audiences associate with that country ... and the films become tough for the home-crowd to stomach anymore, because they're more like promotional films than authentic depictions of any reality that someone from that country would actually recognise. Obviously the UK film industry ended up pretty much dying out, becoming little more than an outsource facility for American film production. I doubt it'll go quite that far with Hollywood's chasing after the Yuan, because - unlike the UK - they've got a large enough home audience (that mostly only wants to see homegrown product) to be able to sustain production.

[@kyleshockley1573]

​@@blatherskite3009 It's the old saying "You can't please everyone all of the time." But that's what these producers and studios are aiming to do in the worst possible way, by trying to bring everything down to a lowest common denominator. In theory that works when you have a smaller audience, or when your subject matter doesn't have to be as specific culturally or whatever. Or that rare case where the subject transcends differences without modifiers. Once that audience number balloons up to hundreds of millions more, with their own cultural considerations and political machinery to have to cater to, and you start throwing in very culturally specific lore or franchises to make movies of, all bets are off. They're really trying to make the saying "A bell ringing in London means the same thing in Moscow and Beijing" apply to creative things. At a deep level, yes it can. But trying to do that with the rest of the moving parts that shape and mold a complex character or story, it only guarantees that it'll be just that, a dumb bell that's wrung. And a Pavlovian response to consume product, get excited for next product. Like you said, a warped pandering thing that forgets who it is and tries to be something else. And yeah, maybe it is because America's cultural ties with England historically, but I think most folks in the states that like British film and story gravitate towards it because it is its own thing, its own confidence, voice, character. And experiences. Same could be said about other countries and their films as well. Whatever differences, having that regionality without worrying about how to corner foreign markets, it makes the viewer have to see the world through another set of eyes for a little while. Which I thought was the whole point of film. The less regionality we have, the less we get a chance to do that.

[@arrowknee7356]

@@V742 I do no think that is really true, we still get the Elex games, the Chivalry games, Dark Picture or Syberia games etc. The AA did seem to die out there for a while, but it seems back in full force now tbh.

[@itswilbur3747]

This was a great listen. Have followed Neil Marshall's stuff ever since Dog Soldiers came out and the guy is one of the best. You could tell Hellboy had studio meddling all over it. From other interviews, I believe he had some producer troubles on Dog Soldiers and Centurion as well, although he managed to weather them pretty well.

[@aydenvavra2153]

It didn’t help that there was 19 producers on that new Hellboy film props for Neil Marshall for getting through that experience.

[@DoNutx777]

And as he said, these producers are likely gonna butt in anyway during the editing. Makes you wonder why didn't they directed the film themselves

[@arrowknee7356]

@@DoNutx777 There does seem to be a desire to attach another persons name to the director. I recall James Camerons first credited film he was directing for less then one day before the producer fired him and did it himself. This was a producer who did this many time over to different directors. There is likely some financial reason for doing this at a guess, not sure though.

[@jacobsladder74]

Centurion... Such a entertaining watch

[@aydenvavra2153]

@@jacobsladder74 I love that movie it’s not the type of film I would normally watch but it’s such a bloody good time. Definitely worthy of being a cult classic imo.

[@johnnyth440]

I am so happy that you can have people like him on the channel. He was always such a fascinating character for me ever since I saw Doomsday at the age of 13. I hope that he will be able to direct something big again soon!

[@paulhurt839]

Congratulations, that is one amazing interview. Not sure I’ve ever seen a director of Marshall’s status given reign to be as frank about a recent filmmaking experience as that. Encourages us, as total armchair critics, to stop and consider the factors at play before dishing out the blame for bad movies. It’s only a shame there are so many bad movies, especially in the “summer blockbuster” genre - whatever the cause, you’d imagine the movie industry would have got more of a clue by now.

[@timidhobgoblin207]

This is actually really interesting to hear. Marshall is a solid director both of feature films and television so I always wondered what on Earth happened for Hellboy to be so utterly wank. Sounds like he was shafted hard by the studios and Mike Mignola who pushed for the reboot instead of letting Del Toro and Perlman finish their trilogy.

[@johncadden202]

It's great that the drinker got to interview the guy who made dog soldiers. I hope to see Niel Marshal's adventure movie one day.

[@ArtbyAP]

As soon as he started off by saying ''It was sh*t'', my respect for him went to 1000 real quick. Such transparency is little to nonexistent in this industry.

[@spiegel4894]

the man did Dog Soldiers, The Descent & Doomsday all solid films in my book so sad that his vision of hellboy wasn't the one we got on the big screen hats off to him for his honesty wish him well on his next endeavor whatever that is

[@justincarlozmaxino1100]

I am elated to see Neil Marshall give us a big scoop like this but at the same time saddened that for him to arrive at this point they must have blacklisted him already like others.

[@patrickdoherty4527]

Yep, was thinking the same thing - he obviously knows he won't be getting any major studio offers any time soon. Otherwise he'd never agree to do this.

[@richtifilmpalast5373]

Desppite the 2019 fuck fest Hellboy, I'm still a big fan of Neil's body of work. And I absolutely fucking LOVE this interview! Neil's so brutally open and honest about this whole experience and the reasons behind it. This should be the gold standard fpr interviews with directors or producers, ect Thanks a lot Drinker for bringing this gem to us, can't wait to see the rest of it!

[@jakehands]

On Wikipedia it says there were 7 producers involved in this film. So it’s understandable what he mentions about studio interference.

[@arkhamwarden1205]

We need more people like Neil who are willing to come forward and say “Hollywood really screwed me on this. They wanted a scape goat, rather than some good at their job”. Imagine the horror stories we could get from the guys who did Spider-Verse about LucasFilm. Or any of the actors from Game of Thrones. Or if Mark Hamill and John Boyega were just allowed to be honest about working on the sequels.

[@faves2064]

I really enjoyed the full interview and really appreciate Neil's honesty in this film in particular. Just wish he'd have more time to talk Centurion as that's a truly under appreciated film.

[@OldPanther]

I'm not in the industry but that seems like a common thread for a lot of bad movies.

[@xblackdog]

Halo, Star Wars, The Dark Tower, Hellboy, etc. Halo being recent, I feel is the worst given that the producer was proud to have not played the games or read any of the books.

[@InfernosReaper]

@@xblackdog There was a time when they'd at least *pretend* like they're familiar with the source material. Now, they wear their disinterested ignorance like a badge of honor

[@OldPanther]

@@xblackdog Saw that headline about Halo today. What were they thinking? I get adaptations don't need to be 1:1 but damn.

[@PresidentScrooge]

The question now is how many movies get saved by studio interference? Obviously we hear about the bad cases, but are there any good apples? And if so, do they balance the bad ones out?

[@xblackdog]

@@OldPanther They weren't thinking, I think. There so many holes to nitpick, that I hope drinker does a video on it, because he is quite good at literating(?) what is wrong. The biggest feeling I get, is the typical "get woke" vibe, which given Halo by nature is international (well, interplanetary actually), it is very, very easy to organically make it woke (like Arcane), but that require writers and producers who haven't had multiple lobotomies.

[@peniparker7968]

Literally watched Hellboy 2019 for the first time yesterday. It was a tough watch... Imagine hiring an amazing horror director like Neil, only to immediately push his thoughts and ideas to the back burner. Why even do it? hire a cheaper director who has no idea what they are doing if you want 100% studio exec ideas. The Descent still stands as a TOP 5

[@istrumguitars]

Dude the Drinker is absolutely killing it. Interviewing directors about the worst moments of their career is not an easy thing to do, and not an easy thing to get them to agree to do. I’m impressed. Can’t wait to see more.

[@Mrmightyclash]

I really want this to be a series, bring on directors to talk about how studios sabotage/ damage directors projects. Really interesting topic.

[@philanderphillips2309]

I’d love to see CD bring on Rian Johnson, and ask him “Rian, why did you conspire with others to kill Star Wars, and do you sleep well at night knowing half the universe hates you?”

[@williamerickson520]

Or we could be less vindictive about it while still shooting straight to the heart.

[@emptyblank099a]

Bro its just a movie.

[@Vastspartan]

​@emptyblank099a its not just a movie. It's a universe that people hold dear to. Especially characters such as Luke who are an inspiration

[@carlosmehicano8052]

It would interesting to get more in depth with the degree of interference in modern films, to find out whether it is that producers and executives were not able to make films themselves, and whether they see this as their only way to be part of the creative process. Alternatively it could simply be there are set guidelines laid out by production companies regarding creative choices.

[@Rekaert]

You can't knock the guy for his candidness, damn. Respect earned.

[@Esure101]

The relationship between Director and Studio appears (although I'm no expert) to have drastically changed in recent years. Seems now unless you are Steven Spielberg or Tarantino you are really just a brand to put on the poster whilst the Executives sanitise and peer review every decision in the film. Of course none of them ever appear on the poster so when they fuck up they can just move onto new projects and continue their mess.

[@kj3n569]

Great interview, it's interesting to hear from the director himself why something that should have been an easy home run of a film went so wrong. I didn't even know who he was until reading the comments, and was surprised to learn he directed Dog Soldiers. Loved that movie, found it completely by accident and glad that I did. Very underrated, I enjoyed your take on it as well and expect that you introduced a lot of people to it. I see that he also directed GOT's episode Blackwater Sound, unless the commenter was wrong. It seems like his style though. He was a natural choice for Hellboy with his creative style in lighting, pacing, etc. That seems to be missing in Hellboy. Now we know why. The ego of producers and studio heads knows no bounds apparently, and micromanaging a film never seems to work. Shame, as there is so much potential in Hellboy, many great storylines to choose from and his preference for dark mysterious set lighting would have went perfectly with the material. At least it wasn't woke and changed to Hellperson.

[@leonthesleepy]

He looks so depressed talking about it

[@merkinert3773]

I've been there, directing a mural project. The project manager didn't want to manage, she wanted my job as head artist. It was a nightmare, literally giving me panic attacks and anxiety I'm still treating to this day.

[@Last_March_of_the_Gents]

I like since you have started production hell, you have refined our understanding of how many things can go wrong in creating a movie. And the one thing that has been crystal clear for adaptions is that the director needs to have a thorough understanding of the source material and the studio needs to trust them enough to make their vision, and not try to reshape it into what they perceive is a money maker. That's what gives us the suicide squad compared to suicide squad for example. Keep it up mate

[@oscarvi3232]

Am really enjoying these short out-takes from your longform conversations. Please keep them coming Drinker.

[@curiouscase9040]

Love Neils films great to hear him talking at length, you definitely need to take him up on his offer to return for future streams ,I'll definitely tune in for more.

[@connard123abc]

If anyone is wondering, it's well worth watching the full interview. Neil is a very engaging guy, and I Don't think you could find many directors willing to chat as candidly.

[@solarsailer4166]

Really enjoyed this interview. It's easy to lob blame at directors and actors, but sometimes it wasn't their fault. Other examples are Matt Smith's and Peter Capaldi's Dr Who. One has to give these people a lot of credit for doing their best in a no-win scenario. Thanks for giving him a chance to say his bit.

[@KJ-of6lf]

Agreed, Capaldi's Doctor was the biggest wasted opportunity. He could have been one of the best, but the scripts were progressively worse as his second series went on.

[@jloh3256]

@@KJ-of6lf really? I thought the first year Capaldi had was pretty abysmal, and the second picked up with less Clara and actual stakes. His last was fairly strong but i wholly agree he could have been so much more

[@KJ-of6lf]

@@jloh3256 as I would have said that his second year scripts were abysmal (Robin Hood, the trees protecting Earth, etc) but did improve with the end of Clara's stint along with Ashilda.

[@chrisfraser5088]

Great interview! Neil is a great director. The Descent still fucks with me to this day. Big up to Neil for his honesty 👊

[@Pinhead891]

A great interview! It's real cool you get a chance to chat with these folks!

[@abrahemsamander3967]

That’s so cool you interviewed a big budget director! Kudos to Mr.Marshall for his honesty and integrity. I’m gonna check out his films now.

[@chancepaladin]

massive respect, lets hope the 2024 attempt has better luck and more support.

[@pyramidus]

So great you got to talk to the director. Very good interview and very professional. You are rising up in the hierarchy of film critics. 👍

[@davetheimpaler204]

The producers apparently even fired his DP just to show him he "wasn't in charge". The production sounded like a nightmare for a director.

[@andrewhart9310]

I would LOVE to see more like this! Super cool, honest, and revealing.

[@lilmelvin11]

Great interview clip, Mr. Jordan, you Elucidator. Shine on!

[@Kusanagikaiser999]

when you see the filmography or Neil Marshall, you know he is saying the TRUTH the dude have been involve and directing really good stuffs in his time, so yes, this Hellboy didn´t feel like anything he have done, before and even AFTER, this speak of something that is happening in Hollywood for a long time, but we have start noticing with films like Alien 3, Spiderman 3, Justice League and Suicide Squad, Fan4stic, and so many other big name films....the STUDIO INTERFERENCE, these big mega corporations that because they are putting a shit ton of money, and something happen they decide to scrub the vision of these artists, and it SHOWS.....just look at Justice League, is day and night the difference between the Joss Wheddon cut and the Snyder one. Or Marc Webb's Amazing Spiderman films that if you look for all the deleted scenes you see that there was a more personal story that was cut in favor or a by the numbers Super Hero flick. Studios don´t trusting the vision of the directors they hire is a big thing now, and many of these directors don't have the power or a George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron or Christopher Nolan HAVE, no one tells any of these guys how their VISION need to be.....they will do THEIR MOVIE the studio like it or not....but sadly many greats directors like Marshall don't have yet that power or never will and we ended with these horrible abomination like Hellboy 2019.

[@HitManHerbert13]

Awesome interview. And I appreciate Neil's candid honesty. He actually seems like a good guy.

[@UsualMotives]

Great interview loving hearing him be so honest and open about that movie

[@badassdanthepowerman6438]

Thanks for the interview both Drinker and Neil. Nice to affirm the clusterfuck that it was, always hate when this happens to films of course, and studios just don’t learn most of the time. An even bigger shame because David made a great Hellboy and stood out from being different enough to Pearlmans portrayal while still being distinctly Hellboy. Everything else though aside from some designs, was a stinker. Another one of those situations where you just think “why even bother hiring a director?”.

[@tyronehenderson5433]

I really enjoy your show man. Keep up the good work!!

[@arekpetrosian4965]

This sort of honesty is something we need more of. If it's a turd, don't try to defend it, admit it's a turd, and that you learned from it...and move on.

[@johnnyskinwalker4095]

I remember where I heard Marshall was doing Hellboy, I was excited as Hell cause he would bring a more horror dark vibe to the movie. And esp. cause he had not directed a movie in a while. But then all the trailers came in and it seemed more comedic than the Del Torro movies. Then I saw it and it was crap. I was like "there is no way Marshall did this". It's comforting to learn that they butchered it. Also I heard that the creator Michael Mignola was responsible for some of the screw ups.

[@mr.c1646]

Great interview man. Please try to do more of these

[@Elerad]

Would love to see him do some more horror films. The Descent was really cool. Did such a great job capturing the claustrophobia of the situation. Dog Soldiers was a blast, too.

[@darrenoconnell2891]

Great long form interview, Drinker!

[@fernandogimenez7520]

Love this new types of videos when Artist can speak what is going on behind the curtains.

[@guyvizard549]

First of all, I'm jealous you interviewed one of my favorite filmmakers. Secondly, I knew the movie wasn't his fault. Every one of his other movies has a sense of dirty fun. Especially Doomsday (I'm a big John Carpenter fan...) There was none of that fun in Hellboy. And I had been vouching for Mr. Marshall all throughout the production, when folks would knock the new actor (Harbor) or get angry it wasn't Del Toro at the helm. I had faith that he was making a big budget monster movie. I hadn't considered studio meddling. Let's not forget that some of the producers were the old Cannon Pictures crew, though I can't speak to who gave him trouble on set. Cannot wait to go watch the whole interview.

[@TheSt1092]

Great interview Drinker . Excellent work.

[@JeffreyDeCristofaro]

WOW, an interview with THE DESCENT's Neil Marshall! Sadly, what he went through here is NOTHING new in the film industry. I have a number of favorite filmmakers who have gone through the same experience and while development hell is usually a filmmaker's worst nightmare (especially after all the effort to develop the script and plan actual production before trying to get the green light), this is definitely one production that should have stayed there. Thanks for your highly invaluable output, Neil!

[@lukebatchelor717]

I was going to avoid the movie like the plague. I heard all the bad press. But this interview has made me start watching his films and appreciating his films more and more. In spite of everything I want to watch Hellboy now more than ever, even knowing the old ones were so great. I know it's gonna be bad but if it's fun, it might be worth it!

[@erikvarela2045]

That was a fun interview. The description of the studio interference sounds worse than what happens in TropicThunder!

[@pauljamilkowski3672]

Wow what an awesome guest to interview! He's made some great movies!

[@maisuchan6209]

It's really nice of you to give the man a chance to defend himself like that. At least now we can understand what happened behind the scenes of that movie

[@silvermane9370]

The act of meddling is not constrained to the movie business. I used to run a multi-million pound business and at one point i had a boss who thought he knew better and constantly changed my decisions when i was away. Thankfully my bush telegraph let me know what he was doing and i ‘managed’ him out of the picture. But i had nearly two years a hell.

[@00pugsly48]

This is cool, I love your channel drinker! Have a good one mate.

[@josesosa3337]

In regards to studio interference, i like the idea that a person in charge of a project should ask the people he is working with or for this one question. Is this a project by the artist, or a project by the studio? I think this is what needs to be asked when beginning a project.

[@TheC-Monster]

Great interview. Now, I've gained further understanding on why Hellboy 2019 was terrible. I mean, I kinda figured that it was perhaps a terrible film due to the studio more than the director and his cast & crew anyway, but seeing this interview has basically confirmed it once and for all. And, Neil Marshall has my respect now for coming out and dropping some knowledge here.

[@cranp4764]

That was great. I’ll have to watch the whole interview, especially if it covers Doomsday. I remember reading an interview at the time where he talked about a director’s cut which was only slightly longer but improved the pacing of the film dramatically. As far as I’m aware, it’s never been released. That’s the sort of thing a special edition from the likes of Arrow could fix!

[@MrGreenAKAguci00]

I was so damn hopeful about the return of Hellboy, It's a shame that the guy who saw potential in the project couldn't execute anything to make a positive impact on it, even as a damn director. Crazy. I mean, I know that movies are made by a town of people these days especially if we take into account all the CG stuff, but someone should be able to overlook the process and guide it, if you hire a guy to do it, why do you cripple him by not letting him work?

[@paulhurt839]

I think that’s because, in many cases, the director isn’t hired to oversee the project as such… from the studio’s perspective, they’re hired to successfully get thru the shoot on time and on budget. They might be told it’s “their film” but the studio and producers probably regard it as their film, since they’re paying the bills. Mis-managed mega-budget movies have the potential to be a nightmare to work on, I’m sure.

[@MrGreenAKAguci00]

@@paulhurt839 Well Dinker made a few of Production Hell videos already so no wonder.

[@andrewshandle]

Over the last few years it has become super easy for directors to just blame everyone but themselves for their bad movies because the fans just lap it up. Maybe he's 100% right and he was doomed from the start, but when you dig a bit deeper into these types of stories (especially the generic "studio interference" that gets thrown around a lot) you find them inconsistent with other directors who work with the same studios who have no problems making good films. When the person who is most responsible for a film's success is so quick to blame everyone else, it doesn't say a lot about their accountability...and who's fault is The Reckoning?

[@peanutbutterwarrior1503]

Yeah I agree I'm sure it was a stressful experience negotiating with the studio and producers to fully realise his vision but that's what a good director does at end of day. It's not just telling actors where to stand it's about being firm on your word and making it clear that the film will be done how you see fit. If he's letting producers walk all over him and undermine him on set it's his fault for being too soft. Seems like he's just making excuses up for his own failures for not being a strong leader on the movie set

[@samuelschwager]

I appreciate his candour, you don't often get that from people in the industry.

[@kevinzalac8945]

‘The decision to make the film was a mistake’ sums it up. HB is my favorite comic. I KNEW this movie would be rubbish. And if was worse than i could have imagined. It took a giant sh*t on the source material. I appreciate you gave this fella a chance to speak his peace. *checks name off list* moving on.

[@DaBuddhaHMz]

Despite all that he went through, Neil made an awesome movie. I honestly love it and was really hoping for a sequel.

[@fitnessabcvideo]

Respect to this director and talkingg Frank about it. The descent by the way is a horror classic that will age amazingly well, hats off to you sir.

[@Wellington-nl7vm]

Neil Marshall was one of my fav directors after Dog Soldiers and Descent. I really think he should try and get back to making movies, perhaps with a lower budget, but with more creative freedom.

[@johnnyskinwalker4095]

If I had the money, I would offer him to do a Trilogy out of Dog Soldiers. Give him a bigger budget and do #2 and #3 with complete free reign.

[@Anth_71]

There is enough distance now that being honest won't negatively effect anything. It actually makes the movie better, knowing the drama behind the scenes.

[@gw5859]

"You Can't Polish a Turd" should be the working title of every Disney Star Wars movie or streaming series.

[@GIBBO4182]

This 4 minute interview was better than the whole Hellboy film

[@diplod5000]

LOVE HOW YOU FIXED GAME OF THRONES LAST SEASON!!! PROPER ENDING !!! THANKS!!!!

[@djdrisco123]

This is an excellent interview. Many times, we fans bash the crap out of directors for their product, when in actuality, they have zero control over what's going on. Its nice to have context before reacting. This is reason #77 of why you should shut up and listen before you type.

[@iljagobeyn8914]

love that he just say's without BS how it was

[@GoodmansGhost]

Sad to hear, and this explains a lot about the tonal inconsistencies and such... I still enjoyed this Hellboy movie the most out of the three live-action movies about the guy. And I say that as a guy that liked those other movies and Guillermo del Toro as a director.

[@dennismcdonald2607]

I REALLY liked this movie! I am in the minority it would seem. 😆

[@jimbo9313]

I wish this was longer.

[@abrahamsantos6459]

This was a good amount of insight, here's one to you drinker!

[@mikemcconeghy4658]

Sorry to hear all this negativity. I actually enjoyed Hellboy 2019. Hopefully Mr. Marshall gets to make another one he can be proud of. Would love to see it.

[@skadooshly]

"it was ssshhhit" 🤣 I like this guy already

[@danipass9339]

I love how they use Neil’s exact quote at the beginning for the Wikipedia page.

[@davidfredrickson4107]

Greatest opening answer ever.

[@jonathantaylor147]

Shame he’s names been tarnished like that. Dog soldiers is one of my fave films. Gory and hilarious at same time. Would love to see some more like that.

[@susanadams4480]

I would love to see you do a comparison video about the two Hellboys

[@brentross9233]

I had just read "The Wild Hunt" before the film came out. Part way through the movie it was pretty close to the source material and I was thinking "this ain't so bad". And then it went really, really bad. Love the book, wish they could have done it justice.

[@sethkrueger5472]

Same I loved they based it more on the comic books but the direction was everywhere and david harbour was okay as hellboy

[@williamjackson6705]

Despite all the Studio interference & less than perfect script without Neil`s involvement this film would have been worse. I hope I`m still around in 10 years to see what the next generation of film fans who grew up watching this as kids on basic cable thinks.

[@thomaslatimer571]

Great interview

[@bloodangelphil]

As a Hellboy fan who went out of his way to buy the books whenever there was spare cash, that movie was a fucking nightmare. The biggest problem of it was trying to restart a Hellboy story by adapting one of the most critical arcs in his whole story. And I remember an old interview with Del Toro about how much he loved the story so much, but if he put all these references for the fans, it'd just end up with characters just walking past the screen. But in the case of the recent movie, they pretty much kludged short stories into the whole thing and just messed it up.

[@motherplayer]

As someone who has read a little of Hellboy, I do think another thing is that for all it's changes, Del Toro did capture more that introspective feeling that the comics had along with the feeling of exploration and awe, while the Lionsgate one more felt like a splatter comedy where anything it potentially has to ponder on never stays too long for more the sake of comedy or action. I actually had my hopes up after that botched mission and him going back to see his friend's name being carved with the other lost ones in frustration.

[@MrChipMC]

So, the script again.. why studios are so indifferent to a quality of the story? Why we, amateurs understand this, while professional producers don't?! P.S. Interviews with directors and actors is a big leap for You, and very interesting direction. My congratulations man, keep going!

[@bbgun711]

Thanks for breaking the original vid up!! I love Neil Marshall, and the explanation totally makes sense for that God awful creation 🤮

[@SierraSierraFoxtrot]

When we blame "the director" we mean the person in control, who may or may not be one credited as the director.

[@eltorpedo67]

Wow. I knew studios and the producers will interfere with the movie, but I always figured it was requesting reshoots, or forcing unnecessary characters, events, whatever into the film. I didn't realize it could be as hands-on as giving direction to the actor. That must be hugely aggravating and humilating.