Columbia Pictures announced that Revolution Studio's supernatural action adventure film Hellboy, which is based on the Dark Horse Comics series by Mike Mignola, will be released nationally on Memorial Day weekend 2004.   The prime placement of Hellboy displays the confidence that Sony/Columbia has in this project, since only 'tentpole' films get such key opening dates announced so far in advance.  The Hellboy movie, which is written and directed by Guillermo Del Toro (Blade 2), stars Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, John Hurt, and Jeffrey Tambor.  Six-time Oscar winner Rick Baker (Men in Black, An American Werewolf In London) is creating the special makeup effects for the film.

This announcement indicates that the current run of comic book-inspired films at the box office is far from over (see also 'Marvel Releases 2004 Movie Schedule'), and that Sony/Columbia thinks that Dark Horse may have a potential blockbuster property in Hellboy.