Hellboy, based on Mike Mignola's Dark Horse comic series, came in #1 at the box office this weekend, with an estimated weekend gross of $23.5 million.  It beat Disney's Home on the Range and the remake of Walking Tall starring the Rock.  The $23.5 million gross for Hellboy exceeded recent expectations, which were at around $20 million.  Among the factors driving Hellboy attendance was good early response (see 'Geek Love!') and a Sony/Best Buy promotion which distributed DVD samplers to consumers (see 'Best Buy Distributes Hellboy Promo DVDs').   

Lucky for retailers, there is a plethora of Hellboy product available, including the Dark Horse graphic novels, trading cards from Inkworks (see 'Inkworks Blends Big and Small Screen Properties'), toys from Mezco (see 'Mezco Readies Hellboy Toys'), 12' figures from Sideshow (see '12' Hellboy Figures from Sideshow'), figures from Diamond Select, and coasters from Dark Horse.