Video game adaptationsare reaching a higher quality than ever nowadays, but it wasn’t that long ago that it seemed any attempt to bridge the gap between console and screens would fail. One franchise that didn’t get much love in its jump to theaters was the third-person stealth action franchise,Hitman. Two attempts were made to bring Agent 47 to life in 2007 and 2015 with two different stars embodying the bald and barcode-branded killer -Timothy OlyphantandRupert Friend. Although both films were modest box office successes, neither managed to impress critics or audiences and have largely faded into memory. However, the deadly assassin is currently enjoying a second life on Netflix, withHitmanranking as #7 andHitman: Agent 47soaring up to #4 on the global charts despite not currently streaming on the platform in the U.S.
The firstHitmanfeatures the genetically modified Agent 47 on a violent journey across the globe to take out the Russian president on behalf of the organization that raised him to be the perfect killer. Working under his handler, Diana Burnwood (Lisa Ray-Jacobs), he soon realizes that he was set up and the organization planned to erase him to ensure they aren’t tied to the assassination. To make it out alive, he’s forced to confront both Interpol and Russian Secret Service members to expose the conspiracy, taking along the Russian president’s mistress Nika (Olga Kurylenko), whom the organization wanted him to kill. Also starringDougray Scottandnearly featuringJason Stathamas the titular killer, the film hails from French action auteurXavier Genswith a screenplay penned bySkip Woods. While it did garner the occasional positive review, that wasn’t enough to save the film from a ghastly 16%Rotten Tomatoesscore from critics and a middling 57% mark from audiences, with nearly everything from the action down to the acting panned.
For as much as Gens’s efforts were criticized, directorAleksander Bach’s take, which happened to be his directorial debut, was eviscerated even further withan 8% score from criticsand only a 40% score from viewers. Written once again by Woods alongsideMichael Finch, the film explores the origins of 47’s engineered birth under Ukrainian geneticist Dr. Piotr Litvenko (Ciarán Hinds). Like in the games, 47 works for the ICA (International Contracts Agency) and is tasked with stopping a sinister organization that looks to exploit the technology used to create him to build their own unstoppable army. He joins forces with the daughter of his maker, Katia (Hannah Ware), to confront the syndicate and stop his greatest foe, learning more about his origins in the meantime. Opposite Friend’s 47 isStar TrekveteranZachary Quintoas John Smith, a genetically modified counter agent with subdermal body armor meant to specifically counter Litvenko’s agents.
Will the ‘Hitman’ Franchise Ever Return to the Big Screen?
While theHitmanmovies have struggled critically,IO Interactive’s games have only continued to thrivethrough the reboot trilogy of games released from 2016 through 2021. Studios have still circled the franchise in hopes of capturing the thrilling stealth gameplay on the big screen, however. After earning $82.3 million at the box office,Agent 47was eyed for a sequel until Disney acquired 20th Century Fox in 2019 and axed the project. The only effort of late to make something has come fromNobodyandJohn WickwriterDerek Kolstad. In 2017, it was announced thathe had been tapped to pen the pilot at Hulu, though, outsidean interview from 2021revealing that 47 would start the series with hair, updates have been few and far between. It’s unclear if the project is still moving forward or if the franchise has been laid to rest for now on the screen.
HitmanandHitman: Agent 47are available to stream now on Netflix in select countries. For U.S. viewers, the films can currently be found throughStarzandMaxrespectively.
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