Speaking at the San Diego Comic Con 2012 promoting their new giant monster movie Pacific Rim, Director Guillermo Del Toro and star Ron Pearlman confirmed they’re both trying to make a third Hellboy film a reality.

Guillermo Del Toro had previously publically admitted defeat in his efforts to finish his intended trilogy of films based on the cult Dark Horse comicbook characters of Mike Mignola. He was distracted by countless other projects but he now clearly has a renewed enthusiasm for the franchise, stating:

“I can say publicly that now we are together in trying [to do Hellboy 3].”

Explaining his newfound determination to conclude the Hellboy saga, the genius director referenced the recent news coverage of Ron Pearlman’s visit to a young fan battling Leukaemia while dressed as Hellboy on behalf of the Make A Wish Foundation:

 ”I’ve encountered a lot of kids who are fans of the movies, but to hear the story of this kid who was watching the movies while going through treatment, it really just moved me a lot. We’re going to make an effort to do it. I hope it happens.”

Ron Perlman who plays the monster battling demonic hero, quickly added his own vocal support to the project

“The [first] two movies were really set up to have this unbelievable resolve. 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.”

Time will tell if the studios will share their enthusiasm, but the commercial success of Pacific Rim could play a big factor. Yet another reason to go see it repeatedly! As if you needed an excuse to watch giant robots fight space monsters.