Hellboy Documentary ‘Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters’ Acquired By Nacelle

EXCLUSIVE: Nacelle has struck a deal to acquire Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters, a new doc on the creator of the Hellboy comics, from filmmakers Kevin Konrad Hanna and Jim Demonakos. Specifics as to the release plan haven’t been disclosed.

Pic tells the story of Mignola — one of the most successful independent comic book creators, who has inspired generations of writers and artists — and how he came to create a world-renowned comic book universe. The film includes never-before-seen interviews conducted with the creator at his studio, drawing demonstrations, behind the scenes footage from workshops and comic book conventions, and interviews with some of the most influential people in entertainment.

Notables featured include Guillermo del Toro, Neil Gaiman, Patton Oswalt, Ron Perlman, Victor LaValle, Rebecca Sugar, Chris Roberson, Jorge Gutierrez, Adam Savage, Chris Prynoski, Steve Purcell, and Doug Jones, to name a few.

First published by Dark Horse Comics in 1993, the Hellboy series follows a demon who was summoned to Earth as an infant during World War II, going on to battle a host of supernatural threats as a paranormal investigator for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. In addition to countless graphic novels and comic books, prose novels and short story collections, board games and video games, the comics have to date inspired a number of features across live-action and animation. Ron Perlman played the title character in a pair of films from Del Toro, 2004’s Hellboy for Sony and 2008’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army for Uni, with David Harbour picking up the mantle in 2019 as star of Lionsgate’s Hellboy. The newest adaptation is Millennium Media’s forthcoming Hellboy: The Crooked Man, which has Jack Kesy playing the character.

The sixth highest grossing documentary in Kickstarter’s history, the Mignola doc was brought to life courtesy of 4,652 crowdfunding backers pledging over $528,000.  Hannah and Demonakos also produced, with Adam F. Goldberg, Hans Rodionoff, and Brian Volk-Weiss serving as EPs.

In a statement to Deadline, co-director Hanna observed that “Mike Mignola’s story is about the journey of finding and sharing your unique voice with the world. It’s a film that will resonate with anyone ignited by creative passion. Together with Nacelle, we’re right where we need to be to deliver this story with those who need it most.”

Demonakos explained that “aside from chronicling his life, our goal is to expose more people to Mignola’s work, his art, his whole universe of brilliant creations. We’re excited to be teaming up with Nacelle with help accomplish that goal and hope to it leads many people to discovering his comics for the very first time.”

“There are very few documentaries that permeate and stay with you for days, weeks, months after you finish it,” added Nacelle Founder and CEO, Brian Volk-Weiss. “This one sucked me right in and never let me go… I cannot wait for the world to see it!”

SVP of Distribution and Acquisitions Anna Roberts negotiated the deal on behalf of Nacelle.