There’s no point denying it: Hellboy is in box office hell.

The movie – which sees Stranger Things’ David Harbour take on the titular role of a demon who switches satanic allegiance to protect humanity from evil – has only mustered a measly £9 million at the box office in its UK weekend. And it’s been savaged by critics, too: some called it “instantly forgettable”, while others branded it a “loud gory mess”.

With such damning words ringing in her ears, you might expect Milla Jovovich, who stars in the movie as Blood Queen Nimue, to make like so many other actors and do her best to distance herself from the project.

Jovovich, though, isn’t like other actors. Sharing a selfie on Instagram, the Resident Evil actresss wrote: “It’s always stressful on opening weekend and @hellboymovie is no different. 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.”

Jovovich continued: “All I’m gonna say before going to bed is this: All my raddest films have been slammed by critics. It’s fucking hilarious. Dazed and Confused? Seriously? Classic movie. The Fifth Element! You would have thought that was the worst movie ever made if you read the reviews in like ‘98. Zoolander? Slammed. Joan of Arc? Disaster. Resident Evil? Let’s not even go there.

“Anyway, every one of those films is now a cult classic. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. And this will be too. Mark my words.”

Jovovich went on to say that Hellboy’s “amazing actors” – including Harbour, Ian Mcshane. Daniel Dae Kim, Sasha Lane – will help the movie stand the test of time.

“They are all so damn wonderful and talented, the movie is worth seeing just because they’re in it, especially one that’s so much fun to experience as this is,” she said, before piling praise on Mike Mignola (“who created the #Hellboy comics, helped write the script and was on set every single day to make this film as close to his vision as possible”) and director Neil Marshall (who “brought us The Descent, one of the greatest horror movies ever”).

She finished by saying: “Trust me, you’re gonna have a blast watching [Hellboy]. I mean, one critic said, ‘it’s a loud, gory mess only a teenager would love.’ HELL yeah, Hellboy! Let’s have some fun!

“And with that, I wish you all a good night!”

Jovovich is not the only one who’s asking critics to consider their words carefully: Kit Harington has also called for reviewers to be kinder and more considerate, too.

“I think no matter what anyone thinks about this season [of Game of Thrones] – and I don’t mean to sound mean about critics here – but whatever critic spends half an hour writing about this season and makes their [negative] judgment on it, in my head they can go fuck themselves,” said Harington, who portrays Jon Snow in HBO’s fantasy series.

“‘Cause I know how much work was put into this. I know how much people cared about this. I know how much pressure people put on themselves and I know how many sleepless nights working or otherwise people had on this show,” he continued.

“Because they cared about it so much. Because they cared about the characters. Because they cared about the story. Because they cared about not letting people down.”

Well, quite.

Image: Getty