Untitled Hellsing Live-action Film

A Hellsing Live-Action film is reportedly in production in March of 2021.

The film will be written by Derek Colstad (John Wick), and will be produced by Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger, with Tetsu Fujimura, India Osborne, Pierre Buffin, and Jason Speer serving as the executive producers. Teaming up with Amazon, it will be released first on Amazon Prime Video with an unknown release date and title.

Production

Back in 2012, several reports of a Hellsing Live-Action film directed was rumored to be directed by David S. Goyer. However, the theory and rumor was circulating so large that even David S. Goyer himself stepped in and stated directly in his website that it's all "bullshit," stating that he's never even seen the anime or read the manga. David Goyer said on the article:

"I woke up this morning to find a bunch of sites claiming I am attached to direct a film based on the anime HELLSING. The only problem is, it’s complete bullshit. I’ve never read the anime, nor have I ever been contacted by any of the people involved in the film. Not sure what would motivate these people to post a complete fabrication, but there you go. Looks like someone posted a photo they took of me at the Black Ops II premiere in London and “extrapolated” that into me directing. Um, no."

After this statement by Goyer, many sites who claimed that Goyer will be directing a Live-Action film took the articles down shortly thereafter.

Announcement

No more rumors about a Live-Action version of Hellsing circulated until 2021, where Deadline had reported that the manga series Hellsing will get a Live-Action treatment. It's revealed to be written by Derek Colstad (famous for John Wick) and will be produced by Amazon. In the article, Derek stated that ever since his brother introduced him to Hellsing, he's been obsessed with adapting it. Mike Callaghan and his team eventually secured the rights of Hellsing to then partner them all up with Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Amazon.

Mike Callaghan goes on stating that he's loved the vampire genre and especially loves it when a creator "is able to put their own unique spin on it." Callaghan says that Derek is the one who introduced him to Alucard and the Hellsing Organization. He then goes on stating that "Kouta Hirano’s gonzo reimagining of the Dracula-Van Helsing mythology is an exhilarating, quirky mashup of action and horror that’s unlike anything we’ve seen before. We are incredibly excited to partner with Brian and Fred at Automatik and that Amazon is on board to help us bring the wit and madness of ‘Hellsing’ to life on screen."

It was then announced that the film will be produced by Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger of Automatik, Mike Callaghan and Reuben Liber of Ranger 7 Films, Jason Lust of Soluble Fish Productions, and David Kolstad himself. Gemma Levinson is announced to be the executive, while Tetsu Fujimura of Filosophia, India Osborne, Pierre Buffin, and Jason Speer are announced to be the Executive Producers.

Kavanaugh-Jones holds Colstad in high regards, going on stating:

"Derek is an exceptional writer and we are so excited to partner with him on what he does very best – building rich mythology filled with iconic characters."

Jason Lust says that he's excited to work on the project, saying:

"I’m truly excited to work with this stellar team together with Amazon to realize a post-modern reinterpretation of the Dracula character that flips him on his head in an inventive and compelling way."

Reactions

After the article has been published on Deadline, on twitter, it was then confirmed by Hirano's Genga account who retweeted a tweet made by Deadline reporting that Derek and Amazon teaming up on a Live-Action version of Hellsing, and Hirano himself who said on his twitter: "Make the following abbreviations Hollywood." Young King OURs official twitter account also retweeted the tweet Deadline made. Jouji Nakata, the voice actor of Alucard in the anime and OVA expresses his excitement for the Live-Action, yet he wants the story of the manga to be fully realized without any changes made.

Across Twitter on Japan, the news started a wildfire and soon hit #1 on trending in Japan after the announcement, which received mixed feelings from both fans of the west and east alike due to the popularity of Hellsing as a series itself. Shōnen Gahōsha, the publisher of the Hellsing manga series published an article of the announcement shortly after.