the Homunculus. They then found it easier to create an original story based on folklore, because del Toro was planning Pan's Labyrinth, and Mignola's comics were becoming increasingly based on mythology. Later, del Toro pitched a premise to Revolution Studios that involved four Titans from the four corners of Earth—Wind, Water, Fire, and Earth—before he replaced the Titans with a Golden Army. Mignola described the theme of the sequel, "The focus is more on the folklore and fairy tale aspect of Hellboy. It's not Nazis, machines and mad scientists but the old gods and characters who have been kind of shoved out of our world." Del Toro released Pan's Labyrinth in 2006, and the film earned multiple Academy Awards, providing the director enough clout to begin production on the film. Guillermo del Toro began filming the film in June 2007 in Budapest and concluded in December 2007. The film was the first American production to shoot at Korda Studios in Hungary, then newly built outside Budapest. The creature shop was led by the company Spectral Motion, and Filmefex contributed work in makeup and prosthetics. The latter company designed a creature for the troll market scene and built several statues and full-sized replicas of the Golden Army. Music Eddy Arnold – "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" Takako Nishizaki and Jenő Jandó – "Violin Sonata No. 9" Travis – "All I Want to Do Is Rock" Poet in Process – "Why" Brenga Astur – "Nel Caleyu La Fonte" Eels – "Beautiful Freak" Barry Manilow – "Can't Smile Without You" Red Is for Fire – "Noir" Release Hellboy II: The Golden Army opened on July 11, 2008, in 3,204 theaters in the United States and Canada. The film ranked first at the box office, grossing an estimated $35.9 million over the weekend, outperforming the opening of its predecessor, which had opened with $23.2 million. The opening was the biggest of Guillermo del Toro's directing career until 2013, when it was surpassed by Pacific Rim. Audiences polled by CinemaScore, during the opening weekend, gave the film a 'B' grade. The demographic for the film was mostly male, and the age distribution for moviegoers below and above 25 years old was evenly split. Outside of the United States and Canada, the film had a limited release on 533 screens in Mexico, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, grossing $4.6 million. In its second weekend in the