You’ve heard of “Hellboy,” but what about “Heckboy”? That’s the name on the marquee at the Roxy 8 movie theater in Dickson, Tennessee, and it isn’t a typo. Rather, it’s part of a concerted effort by owner Belinda Daniel to remove any and all potentially offensive language from movie titles so that attendees of a nearby church and elementary school aren’t exposed to words they or their parents might find off-color.
“To my knowledge, we have never put any words on our sign that may be seen as profanity,” she told the Tennessean. “This is the way l believe, thus this is way we conduct business… We are located next to an elementary school and across from a church. Hundreds of children pass by our sign daily and we want to be respectful to them, our employees, and everyone.”
She didn’t mind that the toned-down title had gotten attention. “As it turned out, our play on words became a little more exciting than we expected,” Daniel said. “We are glad that we could share a small bit of our great community while also sharing a laugh with the rest of the world.”
No word on how many people have gone to see “Heckboy,” but the actual “Hellboy” has made just $21 million against a budget of $50 million since being released on April 12. The reboot, which swaps Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman for Neil Marshall and David Harbour, respectively, has also received largely negative reviews.
Co-star Milla Jovovich was unperturbed by the frosty reception, writing on Instagram that “you work super hard to make something fun and entertaining and have to absorb the negative reviews by movie critics, but hey! That’s showbiz, baby. All I’m gonna say before going to bed is this: All my raddest films have been slammed by critics.” She also predicted that “Hellboy” will eventually become a cult classic.
Heck yeah gonna see Heckboy pic.twitter.com/6WqphtzmC2
— Moon Lobster (@lunafayebeauty) April 20, 2019
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
