Trivia for
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) More at IMDbPro »

• Peter Jackson approached Guillermo del Toro to direct Halo (2012), and even though del Toro considered it, he turned the offer down so he could direct this sequel. Also, Del Toro turned down I Am Legend (2007), One Missed Call (2008), and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) for the same reason.
  
  
• Revolution Studios was originally set to produce this sequel but had to pull out once Sony decided they no longer wanted to fund Revolution Studios. Sony put the rights up for sale since they felt Hellboy wasn't a profitable franchise for them. Universal felt differently and bought the rights to make the sequel immediately.
  
  
• There are several shots in the movie showing a worn movie marquee advertising a film called "See You Next n sday." The inclusion of the phrase "See you next Wednesday" is a trademark of director John Landis (he has incorporated it into nearly all of the movies and many of the music videos he has directed). Landis, in turn, took the line from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
  
  
• Rupert Evans (Agent John Myers from the first film) couldn't reprise his role due to his casting in a stage version of "Kiss of the Spider Woman" in London in 2007 and was written out of the sequel.
  
  
• Ron Perlman was offered the role of Piccolo in Dragonball Evolution (2009), but turned it down in favor of reprising his role of Hellboy.
  
  
• First movie to be filmed in the new Korda Studios in Budapest, Hungary.
  
  
• Thomas Kretschmann was the first choice as the voice of Johann Kraus, but Guillermo del Toro was not satisfied with the result, and subsequently brought in Seth MacFarlane.
  
  
• Christopher Lee was, reportedly, offered the role of King Balor, but had to turn down the role.
  
  
• As in the first movie, the agents that accompany Hellboy are named for things found while digging in the earth, albeit decidedly tougher than the first group: Marble, Flint, Steel (true, this is an alloy that is mostly iron, but Iron is not a common last name).
  
  
• The movie mentions Bethmoora, a city in the fiction of the early 20th century visionary writer Lord Dunsany. Also note that the Golden Army is hidden in Ireland, Dunsany's homeland. The term "glamour" used for the fairies' cloaking skill also originates in Dunsany's "The King of Elfland's Daughter".
  
  
• Seth MacFarlane's first major motion picture.
  
  
• The enormous female statue shown in the auction scene is a representation of the Venus of Willendorf (the original was only about 4.5 inches tall).
  
  
• The damaged mask of Kroenen from the first film can be seen in a glass case at the BPRD headquarters.
  
  
• Seth MacFarlane based the voice of Johann Krauss on Jeremy Irons’ character from Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995).
  
  
• Shipped to some theaters under the name "Burnt Toast".
  
  
• Guillermo del Toro wrote an ending which ultimately went unused in the theatrical release: A secret base is found in the Antarctic, where Kroenen, the clockwork Nazi villain from the first film, is brought back to life as Rasputin steps out of the shadows. This material was filmed as an animated comic and appears in the DVD bonus features as the "Zinco Epilogue". This epilogue provides the setup for a potential third Hellboy film.
  
  
• Just like the first film, none of the cast member's names are written on the posters, mentioned in the trailers or shown in the opening credits.
  
  
• The number 7 appears throughout the movie, most notably when it is stated that the Golden Army consists of "70 times 70", but also during the scene in the auction house, where the crown piece is listed as lot 777, with a starting price of $7,000,000.
  
  
• The area where Hellboy and company walk around is not actually on the Giant's Causeway itself, although it can be seen far behind and below them. The area they are standing on is close to Mussenden Temple, the Temple being behind the camera for most of the shots. The Causeway itself is actually over 10 miles from their position.
  
  
• Santiago Segura, who acts as "Distinguished Customer" in the auction scene (and in other movies directed by Guillermo del Toro), also voices Johann Krauss in the Spanish dubbed version.
  
  
• After reading it in his manual/ancient lore book, Abe calls Tooth Faires "Carcarodon Carcharias". Actually, that is the scientific name of the Great White Shark.
  
  
• During one of the news reports, the ticker at the bottom of the screen mentions that Blade II (2002) - a film also directed by Guillermo del Toro - was voted to be entered into the national film archive.
  
  
• There are the numbers '51' stenciled into the side of the compound, seen several times, since we find out in the first film that it's "sector 51". It may also, in both films, be a reference to Area 51.
  
  
• The one-eyed Troll Mr. Wink was named after Selma Blair's pet, a one-eyed dog named Wink.
  
  
• The Wink suit weighed 130 pounds. Additionally, Brian Steele, the actor who portrayed Wink, wore 10-inch stilts while in the Wink suit. He lost over 12 pounds through sweating during the shoot.
  
  
• Roy Dotrice (King Balor) and Ron Perlman (Hellboy) starred together in the TV series "Beauty and the Beast" (1987).
  
  
• The motto carved over the door to the Troll's Market is "Unus Mundus", which literally translates as "One World", and refers to the idea that there is an underlying reality from which everything emerges and to which everything will return. The idea was popularized by Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung.
  
  
• The female reporter seen interviewing Hellboy outside of the auction house is Ron Perlman's daughter, Blake Perlman.
  
  
• When in costume as either Abe Sapien, the Chamberlain or The Angel of Death, Doug Jones was rendered almost completely blind and deaf from the prosthetic pieces on his head.
  
  
• As the Angel of Death, Doug Jones could only see out of the crack across the mask he wore. Also, the mechanical wings he was wearing weighed about 40 pounds. Doug was originally supposed to walk around the set, but when it was discovered that he could barely stand, they instead hung him from a wire. This is why The Angel of Death floats.
  
  
• The Angel of Death's voice is done by Doug Jones doing each line twice, once in a higher pitched voice and then in a lower pitch, and then the two takes were blended together.
  
  
• Seth MacFarlane is actually fluent in German, having studied it for four years in high school and spent some time in Cologne, a fact that Guillermo del Toro was unaware of when he offered him the voice of Johann Krauss.
  
  
• David Hyde Pierce did the voice of Abe Sapien in the first film, while Doug Jones played the physical part. For Hellboy II, Jones also does the voice. The reason is because the producers hoped Pierce's name would make the first film a box-office smash. But he refused to be credited because he felt Abe Sapien was Jones' work, and as such did no promotions or interviews, or even attended the premiere.
  
  
• For the perspective shot of the elemental egg opening in Nuada's hand, a huge prosthetic hand holding an over-sized golden egg was created, and Luke Goss stood behind it.
  
  
• The start of photography was postponed by two months due to Anna Walton's pregnancy. She was eight months pregnant when auditioning for her role.
  
  
• One of the few films to feature an actor playing multiple roles. Currently Kamal Hassan holds the distinction and record of playing 10 roles in one film, Dasavatharam (2008).
  
  
• This marks the second film that Jeffrey Tambor has his character's head painted on a substance and used for target practice for the main character. In Hellboy II, his character's head is painted on a piece of paper for Hellboy to use as target practice in shooting his pistol. In the 2000 film How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) The Grinch has Tambor's character's head (the mayor of who-ville) painted on a wall where The Grinch uses a trash launcher to throw bags of trash on his face as practice. Both films were produced by Universal and has main characters of different colors: Hellboy being red and The Grinch being green.
  
  
• The outline of the movie revolves a great deal around Ireland and Irish mythology: Nuada is the name of the first king of the mythological Tuatha De Danann people. The mythological Nuada bore the epithet "Silverhand" because, having lost his arm in battle, he wore a functioning silver arm. In the movie, Nuada's epithet is "Silverlance", and Nuada's father, Balor, has a mechanical arm.
  
  
• Some of the special vocal effects were provided by Guillermo del Toro, the film's director.
  
  
• This movie marks the second time Luke Goss plays an estranged son returning and killing his king father, who then petrifies - the first being Blade II (2002) (as Jared Nomak, killing vampire lord Eli Damaskinos, who has created Nomak artificially but considers him his son). Also, in both cases, he is something of a tragic villain, although more so in this movie.
  
  
• The role of Manning was originally intended for Larry Miller when Jeffrey Tambor was unavailable.
  
  

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