Since Danish developer IO Interactive put out the first Hitman game back in 2000, the series has become a big success, with last year’s Hitman game arguably being the best video game release of 2016. And given the video games’ popularity it’s not surprising that several movies based on the games have come out to date, including 2007’s pretty decent Hitman movie and 2015’s so-so effort Hitman: Agent 47, which sadly counts amongst the worst video game movies made to date.
And now star director James Gunn, the man behind 2014’s fantastic Guardians of the Galaxy, has revealed in a tweet that he actually wanted to make a Hitman movie. This movie would have been R-rated, something that apparently scared off the film’s would be producers back then. “I tried to make a Hitman movie a few years ago. But the producers at the time didn’t want to make it R rated, so they passed”, said the director on Twitter (via GameSpot).
This might seem ironic to some taking into account that both Hitman movies to date have been R-rated, featuring a healthy dose of violence and even sexually suggestive scenes. Actually, the original Hitman movie starring Timothy Olyphant (an underrated film which is actually one of the best video game movies made to date) had an unrated version which did not skimp on showing bloody gore and even nudity onscreen, while the uncensored version itself wasn’t a movie fit for kids either…
But sadly Hitman’s 2015 sequel did not hit the right notes, offering some pretty poor action sequences while also turning Agent 47 into a disagreeable villain instead of the charming rogue he was in director Xavier Gens’ 2007 film. But still, here’s hoping Hitman fans get a better movie the next time around, and if a talented director like James Gunn gets to helm the project, we could surely be in for a hell of a ride the next time Agent 47 graces the silver screen.
Hitman (20th Century Fox)