Guillermo del Toro planning Hellboy 3

Guillermo Del Toro has revealed that he's interested in making a third film in the Hellboy franchise, after being inspired by Ron Perlman's recent in-character visit to the Make A Wish Foundation.

Perlman recently attended a function held by the charity for two young Hellboy fans, donning the full costume in order to make their dreams of meeting the comic-book character come true. Guillermo del Toro was reportedly moved by the love for the character that still exists among the younger fanbase, and is now keen to get a third film up and running.

"I can say publicly that now we are together in trying [ to do Hellboy 3]" said Del Toro to Entertainment Weekly . "We’re going to make an effort to do it. I hope it happens."

Unsurprisingly, Perlman is already keen to reprise his role as Big Red. "The [ first ] two movies were really set up to have this unbelievable resolve,” Perlman told EW . “Everything that was done in both movies was leading up to this destiny, written in stone, of what Hellboy has been summoned to Earth to do."

"To not do it, particularly in light of the scope that Guillermo is thinking of for the resolve, would be in my mind a little bit of a shame." Whether the studio will see it in quite such emotive terms is doubtful, but it does at least sound like the enthusiasm is there from the creative team. Watch this space...