The first attempt at a Hitman movie, based on the popular video game series, was a bit of a trainwreck. Not only was the Xavier Gens-directed film completely panned by critics - earning only 14% on Rotten Tomatoes - it failed to go anywhere at the box office, opening at number four domestically and falling just short of $100 million worldwide by the end of its run. As a result, the fact that we haven't heard about a possible sequel in the last six years is no big surprise, but no franchise is free from the "R" word: Reboot. And that's exactly what's happening to this potential franchise.
Deadline is reporting that Fox International Productions are now planning to bring back trained assassin Agent 47 for another go-round, this time with Paul Walker playing the titular lead. Skip Woods, who wrote the first movie as well as X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the upcoming A Good Day To Die Hard, wrote the script with Mike Finch and Aleksander Bach - a celebrated commercials director - has been hired to helm. They are currently planning to host production in Berlin and Singapore this summer after Walker fulfills his press commitments to Fast & Furious 6.
My biggest concern is this: if Timothy Olyphant - one of the better actors working today - couldn't make this character work on the big screen, what chance does Walker have. The good news is that it's really a win-win situation for him. If it's a success, he has a whole new franchise to lead and he won't have to share the spotlight with Vin Diesel. If it's a flop he can continue making incredible amounts of cash by making more and more Fast & Furious sequels. So why the hell not?
