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Fox Hires a New Screenwriter for Another Hitman Movie

by Alex Billington
June 23, 2009
Source: IESB

Why?! That's the first question that popped into my mind. It doesn't really matter who, even if he is a good screenwriter, but why make another one? IESB has confirmed today that 20th Century Fox is looking to continue the big screen Hitman franchise that started in 2007 with a movie directed by Xavier Gens. Kyle Ward, of the upcoming Kane & Lynch movie as well as the upcoming Fiasco Heights, has been hired to write the script. Adrian Askarieh, Daniel Alter and Chuck Gordon will return as producers, but no word yet on whether Timothy Olyphant, who played Agent 47, will be back as well. Is anyone out there excited for this?

I do know that the Hitman movie is obviously based on a very popular and very successful series of video games, but I don't remember that many people liking it. I actually tried to like it, or rather, I wanted to like it, but I only saw it once in theaters and don't even own it on DVD. I'll argue that it was actually better than the Max Payne movie, which coincidentally also co-starred Olga Kurylenko, but it's really not that great of a movie. Even worse, it only made a measly $40 million in theaters, and probably less on DVD. So is Fox trying to reboot this? Are they trying to pull another Punisher or Hulk or X-Files? Will it even work?

Explore tags: Movie News, Opinions

Darrin

i didnt like this movie that much but the scene with him escaping the hotel was pretty decent.
cat

hitman wasn't too bad. at least they gave it a serious tone. i would watch a sequel if the hitman put a gun to my head.
Dan W

Well, he'll be directing two movies based off of bad video games
scott

I want to like this one very much as I did the last. The last one was forgotten as soon as i saw it, complete waste of celluloid. However I am a huge fan of the game series and believe in its potential for a great movie. Yet , its Fox : ( and they could give a crap about making a good movie. Let's hope they change up some things and reboooooot it!
Darunia

Game has a good concept and story. Movie was garbage.
nelson

hell of a lot better than max payne
I have anxiety (and depression)

Not excited. It's the last ones fault. They should make a straight to DVD movie. That way they'll make some money. I dont think this would do well in theatres.
MrSammich

Good, now do it right this time, introduce some of the clones or something.
Jericho

I'm not really exited, but I would like to see an older, more silent and more stealthy 47.
d1rEct

Xavier Gens was not the right director for this movie his use of violence was out of place and overall pretty poor. I think that they should have stayed a bit closer to the game in terms of 47's origins. I will pass though on another movie if one is made.
Buggy166

i liked the IDEA of the first movie...i even kinda went along with the script...it had an interesting start and ending...but it lacked substance. They should do with hitman what they did with bond and bourne. Its a very dark and straight arrow take on the world outside of our normal perception. Max Payne...again...awsome visuals...very well done "look"...but totally horrible acting/directing...and the entire game was about shooting bad guys but we only get 5-10 minutes of actual action? They also wasted 30 minutes on Olga's character only to have it ended...why? You should never set up someone over such a long period of time if that said story doesnt go anywhere or does not MAJORLY advance the plot. hitman and max payne are my 2 most favourite gaming franchises out of a possible top 5 perhaps in overall story terms as well as gameplay....but jesus, do them justice.
dexter

If the storyline is solid plus introducing great new characters, Still got a chance imo. would definitely love to see another.
Cody

If they do it right like the game where he uses stealth and disguises, it would be fuckiing great. Hitman doesnt run into a building guns blazing but they gotta hollywood up everything. I mean theres so much more potential for awesome scenes anyway with the stealth formula
John is a Basterd

Ok I know agent 47 is suppose to be a wooden character, but I thought Olyphant was terrible in that role. 47 barely has a personality, so I dont care about him in the movie. Its more fun to BE him in the game. I wish people didnt fuck up video games by making piss poor movies based off them. Somebody really needs to just copy the feel of a video game, hire the people that wrote the actual video game, and BAM! perfect video game movie. Oh well never going to happen.
ChrisO.

Stealth, disguises, smuggling in weapons, staged accidents. The stuff you got extra points for in the games, THAT'S what it needs. Forget flashy shoot-outs. The mainstream may not like it, but the fans will. Show us some clever work-arounds to get by security. Show him just BARELY getting a body hid before a guard comes through a door. The stuff that made you nervous in the game.
Jojo

Actually Alex Hitman did pretty good. It was a 20 million budget movie. It did around 40M domestically and 60M overseas. Almost 100M worldwide. It did around 28M in DVD sales domestically and probably another 20-30M in rentals. Overseas could be similar. http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2007/HITMN.php
LINKFX

Worldwide this film was actually a big hit with a total nearing 90 million.
LINKFX

99 million worldwide to be exact. I want a good movie out of this though, it would've been good without the winks to the videogame in it.
xerxex

Timothy Olyphant really did the best he could it was just the rest of the film that fell flat. Now if this new screenwriter can do it then I'm sold. But one question, David Bateson played the voice and provided the likeness for 47 why not just use him?
Pete

I thought this movie was GREAT! Plot was excellent, acting excellent, action what was expected for this type of movie - You can't please everyone, but you guys are crazy. It reminds me of all the great sci-fi movies that are hated by the critics, until years down the road and the fan base has held on, that's when they say they like it.
daniel

hi do u remember dark angel the tv show will do u remember the start if anyone ever seen the show will he one of the kids when they was running to getout will he part from the girl from dark angel.
Sabes

I didn't mind the first one. >.> I don't see why people were saying it was so -terrible-. It was decent. Could of been better though. I'll give the second one a chance.
jay-z

FUCK YEAH!!! BRING THE PAIN!!!!
http://www.namekai.blogspot.com DarkPadme

I think it was a good movie so I am excited about it I think Timothy Olyphant is a good actor
link1983

This was one of the better video game adaptations. It would never reach the dizzy heights of Silent Hill (Best video game movie ever made) but it wasn't that bad. The ending was poor but the sword fight was highly entertaining and reminiscent of the Transporter scene in the Bus Station. I Would love to see a sequel so that they can improve on things that were slightly off in the original. As for max payne, I really like Mark Whalberg but I would have turned that script down. What a waste of time.
DoomCanoe

if done like the games, this series could be amazing. unfortunately we had the god awful 2007 rendition. honestly it would need to be entirely rebooted or drastically saved by a sequel. I'm talking hellboy 1 compared to hellboy 2... and then multiply that by 12 Max Payne was a disgrace to the games... its so sad Kane and Lynch should be done exactly as the game, seeing as how it was very cinematic and brutal to boot. plus the directing was better then most Hollywood numb skulls
Alexandra

I just have a question and then 2 things to say about your review: - Did you play the first Max Payne? If so, I have to say I'm a bit dubious about your flippant assessment of the movie version which actually did a pretty okay job of capturing the atmosphere of the game - much better than the Hitman movie did of its game. - Not too fussed about a Hitman 2 movie. They might manage to improve on the first so why not.
bcbenzel

I actually enjoyed the first one. It was a departure from the game, for sure, but not a huge one. I thought Olyphant played Agent 47 much like you would imagine him being; however, I'm not so sure that I would have added the love interest storyline into the movie, though it added a touch more depth to the character. Depending on how they do the second, I think it could be successful and much better than the first.
http://www.myspace.com/kevjohnphotography kevjohn

I love the games, and liked the first film, and bought the dvd the day it came out. I'm on board for a second one if they're bringing Olyphant back.
Marius

This isn't the greatest film ever made but I thought it was decent. I didn't mind watching it at all. It had a serious tone and the sword fight was great. I never played the game so maybe that's what made it enjoyable for me.
Cody

#25 Seriously, we need more game movies like Silent Hill. When I signed the petition to STOP UWE BOLL (Link below. PLEASE HELP US!), I mentioned he needed to take lessons from the director of Silent Hill. Too bad he didn't listen! Here's the petition. http://www.petitiononline.com/RRH53888/petition.html
http://www.midnightsun.org.uk Stuart Mellor

I thought it was an okay film, i agree with number 31, Silent Hill is still the best video game movie to date. I care more about a new hitman GAME than film though.
AT

I didn't have much of a problem with the first movie. I didn't go in thinking it would be the best thing on earth and that helped a lot. But I would love to see a sequel to the original. Put an actually good story there and you've got a decent movie.
Narf

I've read that the first movie made more than 200 million worldwide. And I like it. It's in the spirit of the games.
jay-z

oh and they need to get vin diesel instead cuz olyphant was boring and really everyone would rather see vin diesel kick ass than anybody else...
Josh

I'm one of the few who liked the movie. I sure the movie will go straight to blu ray and not to theaters.
kinghavociv

I loved the first movie and can't wait for the next. Get 'er done boys!
atoj

I'm not all that much of a fan of the movie, but I'd watch a sequel. Not in the theatre, but on DVD.
Jay

Vin diesel? Kill urself. Only thing hes good at is stealing cars so lets leave him there. I thought Olyphant was good, he showed no emotions and thats how Hitman was. I loved the first movie, i dont understand why people said its terrible just bc it wasnt spot on PERFECT. Good movie and good acting by Olyphant. Movie made well over 100 million, so you guys cant say it sucked. Millions of others thought otherwise.
Jay

Racing cars**. Excuse me
Angela

I like the first one, it was good and i was hoping they would make a second hitman. i have the game hitman triology all three and i enjoy the games and i was cool that they made hitman the first movie and the ending kinda sucked cuz i wanted to see more. That girl Nika should be his girlfriend in the sequel. He'll be more 'charming' having a girlfriend without 'killing people'.
Angela

I also would like to add, they need to have tim olyphant in the sequel. i love his acting!!! and he is so Cute!!!!!!!
Michael

I enjoyed HITMAN. I found it entertaining, and despite what some critics had to say, It did indeed have a story line. I am a huge fan of spy/espionage type films (Bourne Series, Latest 007 flicks, etc) and I thought Hitman was certainly a film more than worthy of a sequel.
Brandon

I think the changed the concept too much from the game when they made the first movie. I liked the first movie, when you forget it was based on something WAY better. But to say the story line wasn't there and needed more stand out acting from the lead actor??? HE IS PLAYING A COLD HEARTED HITMAN!!! NOT TOO MANY EMOTIONS TO BE HAD! It sounds like they want to make the movie more main stream appropriate, and I am fine with that, but take the name "Hitman" off of it then. OTHERWISE FOLLOW THE D*** GAME STORY LINE AND FORGET THE MAIN STREAM!
JIM

best Hitman movie out there. I hope they make another one with same actor he's bad ass . and the hole point of the movie is the game. if you don't play the game, then you wont understand the movie its in the game. I HOPE THEY KEEP MAKING THEM TWARD THE GAME. AND I HOPE THEY MAKE AS MANY MOVIES AS THE GAMES THEY MAKE AND KEEP USEING THE SAME ACTOR.
Ms K

Great movie coming off of the game, fight scene in the close quarters was awesome. Can't wait to see the second movie. I hope SEXY Timothy Olyphant (agent 47) will be in the sequel. I can believe it did will over seas. It seems all of the movie ideas are coming from comics (Batman) or the games (Resident Evil). And I am not complaining...I find them entertaining.
Derekleegordon

Great Movie. I have always wanted a movie to come out to help support the games. This movie did just that.
Aminnick2g

Hitman was dope, I can't wait for the next one!!
#13

Whats with all the haters? Hitman was badass.
Spleahey

It's 2012 and it didn't even come out yet. Will it even come out....