Hitman (2007 film)
Encyclopedia
Hitman is a 2007 film directed by Xavier Gens
and based on the video game series of the same name
. A gun-for-hire "Hitman" is a genetically-engineered assassin known as Agent 47. He is hired by a group, 'The Organization' and becomes ensnared in a political conspiracy. He finds himself pursued by both Interpol and the Russian military. The film stars Timothy Olyphant
and Dougray Scott
. Hitman was released on November 21, 2007. A sequel, under the working title of Hitman 2, is currently in pre-production.
Interpol
agent Mike Whittier (Dougray Scott
) discovers Agent 47
(Timothy Olyphant
) in his study, where the two talk. The scene flashes back three months, as 47 is completing a hit on a gang leader named Bwana Ovie (Eriq Ebouaney
) in Niger
. He receives a communication from his Agency contact, Diana (Lisa Jacobs), and is told he is to kill his next target, Russian President Mikhail Belicoff (Ulrich Thomsen
), publicly. He completes his mission as ordered, but before he can leave Russia he is contacted by his employers. They tell him there is a witness to the assassination and order him to intercept her. When Agent 47 confronts her on the street, he realizes she's never seen him before. As they stare at each other, a civilian next to him is shot. Realizing he's been set up, Agent 47 calmly walks away from the scene.
His employers reveal his location to agents in the Russian FSB, who make plans to intercept him. As he is about to be taken, Diana personally calls him to warn him. She tells him that Belicoff ordered the hit on himself. After a dramatic escape from the hotel, 47 intercepts Nika (Olga Kurylenko
), the woman who supposedly witnessed his hit. He interrogates her about Belicoff and discovers that Belicoff had body double
s in place. He deduces that he killed the real Belicoff and that a double has taken his place at the behest of a cabal
of Russian hardliners who do not want political change.
As Nika and 47 attempt to take a train further into the Russian interior they are intercepted by more assassins from the Agency. 47 kills four of them before wounding Agent Whittier and his partner. Infuriated at yet another escape, the FSB and Agent Markov order Interpol to leave the country immediately. In the meantime, 47 contacts Agent Smith of the CIA
. He offers Smith a deal - he will kill Udre Belicoff (Henry Ian Cusick
), Mikhail's brother, in exchange for a favor from the CIA. Udre is an arms dealer and slave trader whom both the CIA and FSB have wanted dead for some time. He uses blackmail
to influence Smith into accepting the deal. Smith informs 47 that Udre had been planning something with a German arms dealer named Price. Intercepting him could lead 47 to Udre.
47 and Nika travel to Istanbul
, where 47 abducts Price from a restaurant in order to pose as Price at a meeting with Udre. 47 later kills Udre and his henchmen at Udre's mansion outside the city. Belicoff's double is forced to attend Udre's funeral. 47 kidnaps Yuri and forces him to have his own FSB agents try to shoot Belicoff as he delivers a eulogy for Udre. Disguised as a soldier, 47 manages to kill all of Belicoff's guards and takes him into the archbishop's chamber in the church. He has a conversation with Belicoff who tries to reason with 47. He tells 47 that the Russian people will never let him get away with assassinating the president. He offers to let 47 leave if he leaves Belicoff alive. 47 instead kills him. He then allows himself to be taken into custody by Interpol and Mike Whittier.
At this point Agent Smith (James Faulkner
) delivers on his end of the deal, having the agents under his command intercept the Interpol convoy that is transporting 47 to the airport, giving 47 the distraction necessary to escape. The scene then flashes forward to the conversation between Whittier and 47 occurring at Whittier's house. After wrapping up their conversation, 47 reveals the body of Mr. Price, shaved and dressed to look like 47. They make a deal in which Whittier will go along with 47's plan, admitting that the body in his home is the real 47. As 47 leaves, he turns to Whittier and says that he hopes to never see Whittier again.
The scene then changes to Nika, who is shown picking up an envelope from an undisclosed sender. Inside it, there are papers and a message saying that she now owns a vineyard (she had told 47 of her childhood dream of having one). Meanwhile, 47 is watching her from afar, through the scope of his sniper rifle. He then looks at the corpse of another hitman
, lying close to him, and says, "I told you to leave her alone. You should have listened." He then turns back, and walks away.
and IO Interactive
entered negotiations with Hollywood production companies to adapt the video game to film. Twentieth Century Fox eventually acquired the rights and hired screenwriter Skip Woods
to pen the screenplay with actor Vin Diesel
executive producing and starring in the film. In December 2006, Vin Diesel stepped down from the role. In January 2007, Timothy Olyphant
was cast into the lead role with director Xavier Gens
attached at the helm. In March, actor Dougray Scott
was cast as the antagonist to Agent 47, with Olga Kurylenko
, Robert Knepper
, Ulrich Thomsen
, and Michael Offei also joining the cast. Production began the week of March 27, 2007 in Sofia
, Bulgaria
and lasted 12 weeks. A second unit
also shot in locations including London
, Istanbul
, St. Petersburg, and Cape Town
.
The release of the film was set back a few months before release, this was to allow for the reshooting of several scenes. The new scenes included a stand-off between 4 assassins who go on to participate in a sword fight, which replaced the original train platform sequence, simply consisting of Agent 47
facing off against one assassin. Reports before the film's release confirmed that not only reshoots were taking place, but that Fox may have totally removed Xavier Gens from his directing position and denied him the final cut. Nicolas de Toth was brought in at this stage to soften the edit and cut down material.
47's origins were also changed at this stage, Xavier Gens
told an interviewer that whilst they are not directly dealing with the clone storyline, one scene (being the original train station sequence) which shows a bald, barcoded assassin (Jean-Marc Bellu) following Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant
), another bald, barcoded assassin, is very explicit and showed his intention to keep him as a clone. The detail was likely changed to accommodate for the casting of actors of mixed races during reshoots, making it impossible for them to be clones (or at least clones of the same person).
and Canada
, but the film's release was postponed to November 21, 2007. Hitman opened in 2,458 theaters in the United States and Canada, grossing $13,180,769 in its opening weekend, ranking fourth at the box office. The following weekend, Hitman opened in 12 markets, having the following highlights: $150,355 in 38 theaters in Indonesia
, $224,449 in 37 theaters in Malaysia. and $244,329 in 32 theaters in the Philippines
. In Taiwan
, the film opened in fourth place with approximately $100,000. The film also performed weakly in Lebanon
with $19,321 in 6 theaters. As of July 2, 2008, the film has grossed $39,687,694 in the United States and Canada and $60,245,563 in other territories for a worldwide total of $99,933,257, exceeding its estimated budget of $24,000,000. The DVD sales equal $27,858,148 in the US alone, putting the total gross for Hitman at around $128 million USD, not counting television airing rights.
reported that 14% of critics gave the film a positive rating, based on 98 reviews, with an average
score of 3.7/10. At the website MetaCritic
, which uses a normalized
rating system, the film earned an unfavorable rating of 35/100 based on 22 reviews.
The most common complaints are a lacking, often confusing plot, dry acting and extreme violence. However, film critic Roger Ebert
gave it three stars out of four, saying "Hitman stands right on the threshold between video games and art. On the wrong side of the threshold, but still, give it credit". In 2009, Time
listed the film on their list of top ten worst video games movies.
of the film which can be transferred to a portable media device like an iPod. A standard definition DVD was released on March 11 as well in three versions. A single disc theatrical version, a single disc unrated version, and an unrated special edition including many extras, and the digital copy mentioned above. The unrated DVD is one minute longer than the theatrical cut and includes a few extended scenes with more blood. The UK version of the film was available on Blu-ray and DVD from 31 March 2008.
The French Blu-ray version of the film came with 10 deleted scenes, accompanied with French audio commentary by Xavier Gens. Some of the scenes included are the original assassination, in which Ovie survives, is taken to hospital only to be killed via lethal injection by 47
disguised as a doctor. The alternate train platform sequence which features no sword fight, as well as showing the older assassin biting off his tongue to avoid giving answers to 47, and an extended departure sequence between 47 and Nika, which shows Yuri and his men stopping their train and boarding it to look for 47.
An alternate ending in the Special Features of the DVD show 47 watching Nika through his Sniper Scope as she opens the envelope. She then turns down a corner of a small street to be shot dead in a drive-by, possibly by men loyal to the organization behind the fake Belicoff, all while 47 watches.
has hired writer Kyle Ward to pen the script for the sequel to Hitman. Adrian Askarieh, Daniel Alter and Chuck Gordon will return as producers. American actor David Hess
, who died in October 2011, had been reported to have an as-yet-unnamed role and Timothy Olyphant
will return as 47. Daniel Benmayor has signed to direct the sequel. Daniel Casey
will completely rewrite the film, or base it upon the previous script by Kyle Ward.
Xavier Gens
Xavier Gens is a French film director.-Director:*Vanikoro *The Divide *Hitman *Frontier *Sable noir - short film*Au petit matin - short film*Born to Kast - short film...
and based on the video game series of the same name
Hitman (series)
Hitman is a stealth game series developed by the Danish company IO Interactive. The series is available on PC as well as several video game consoles, including the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Xbox 360. The game series has since expanded into a novel, Hitman: Enemy Within written by...
. A gun-for-hire "Hitman" is a genetically-engineered assassin known as Agent 47. He is hired by a group, 'The Organization' and becomes ensnared in a political conspiracy. He finds himself pursued by both Interpol and the Russian military. The film stars Timothy Olyphant
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant is an American actor whose notable roles in television drama series include Deadwood as Seth Bullock, Justified as Raylan Givens, The Office as Danny Cordray, and Damages as Wes Krulik...
and Dougray Scott
Dougray Scott
-Early life:The son of Elma, a nurse, and Alan Scott, an actor and salesperson, Stephen Dougray Scott was born in Glenrothes, Fife and attended Auchmuty High School...
. Hitman was released on November 21, 2007. A sequel, under the working title of Hitman 2, is currently in pre-production.
Plot
The film opens with a montage showing a group of bald children receiving tattoos of bar codes and receiving training in firearms and hand-to-hand combat. In these scenes, it is shown that those boys are raised to be assassins and trained to kill.Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
agent Mike Whittier (Dougray Scott
Dougray Scott
-Early life:The son of Elma, a nurse, and Alan Scott, an actor and salesperson, Stephen Dougray Scott was born in Glenrothes, Fife and attended Auchmuty High School...
) discovers Agent 47
Agent 47
Agent 47 is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the Hitman video-game series. Created by IO Interactive, the character was developed around David Bateson, who also provided the in-game voice...
(Timothy Olyphant
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant is an American actor whose notable roles in television drama series include Deadwood as Seth Bullock, Justified as Raylan Givens, The Office as Danny Cordray, and Damages as Wes Krulik...
) in his study, where the two talk. The scene flashes back three months, as 47 is completing a hit on a gang leader named Bwana Ovie (Eriq Ebouaney
Eriq Ebouaney
Eriq Ebouaney is a French film actor. He is best known for his portrayal as the Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba in the 2000 film Lumumba, as "Blacktie" in Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale and as "Ice" in the 2008 action film Transporter 3 in which he starred opposite Jason Statham.-Early...
) in Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
. He receives a communication from his Agency contact, Diana (Lisa Jacobs), and is told he is to kill his next target, Russian President Mikhail Belicoff (Ulrich Thomsen
Ulrich Thomsen
Ulrich Thomsen is a Danish actor.Thomsen was born in Fyn, Denmark and graduated from the Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance in 1993, after which playing on several theatres in Copenhagen, such as Dr. Dantes Aveny, Mungo Park and Østre Gasværks Teater.His film debut was in...
), publicly. He completes his mission as ordered, but before he can leave Russia he is contacted by his employers. They tell him there is a witness to the assassination and order him to intercept her. When Agent 47 confronts her on the street, he realizes she's never seen him before. As they stare at each other, a civilian next to him is shot. Realizing he's been set up, Agent 47 calmly walks away from the scene.
His employers reveal his location to agents in the Russian FSB, who make plans to intercept him. As he is about to be taken, Diana personally calls him to warn him. She tells him that Belicoff ordered the hit on himself. After a dramatic escape from the hotel, 47 intercepts Nika (Olga Kurylenko
Olga Kurylenko
Olha Kostyantynivna Kurylenko , better known as Olga Kurylenko, is a French actress and model. She is perhaps best known as the Bond girl, Camille Montes, in the 22nd James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. She also portrayed Nika Boronina in the movie adaptation of the video game Hitman...
), the woman who supposedly witnessed his hit. He interrogates her about Belicoff and discovers that Belicoff had body double
Body double
A body double is a general term for someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character in any recorded visual medium, in shots where the character's body is shown but the face is either not visible or shown indistinctly, or in shots where the image of the credited actor's face is joined,...
s in place. He deduces that he killed the real Belicoff and that a double has taken his place at the behest of a cabal
Cabal
A cabal is a group of people united in some close design together, usually to promote their private views and/or interests in a church, state, or other community, often by intrigue...
of Russian hardliners who do not want political change.
As Nika and 47 attempt to take a train further into the Russian interior they are intercepted by more assassins from the Agency. 47 kills four of them before wounding Agent Whittier and his partner. Infuriated at yet another escape, the FSB and Agent Markov order Interpol to leave the country immediately. In the meantime, 47 contacts Agent Smith of the CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
. He offers Smith a deal - he will kill Udre Belicoff (Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick is a Scottish-Peruvian actor of stage, television, and film. He is well-known for his role as Desmond Hume on the United States television series Lost, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination....
), Mikhail's brother, in exchange for a favor from the CIA. Udre is an arms dealer and slave trader whom both the CIA and FSB have wanted dead for some time. He uses blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
to influence Smith into accepting the deal. Smith informs 47 that Udre had been planning something with a German arms dealer named Price. Intercepting him could lead 47 to Udre.
47 and Nika travel to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, where 47 abducts Price from a restaurant in order to pose as Price at a meeting with Udre. 47 later kills Udre and his henchmen at Udre's mansion outside the city. Belicoff's double is forced to attend Udre's funeral. 47 kidnaps Yuri and forces him to have his own FSB agents try to shoot Belicoff as he delivers a eulogy for Udre. Disguised as a soldier, 47 manages to kill all of Belicoff's guards and takes him into the archbishop's chamber in the church. He has a conversation with Belicoff who tries to reason with 47. He tells 47 that the Russian people will never let him get away with assassinating the president. He offers to let 47 leave if he leaves Belicoff alive. 47 instead kills him. He then allows himself to be taken into custody by Interpol and Mike Whittier.
At this point Agent Smith (James Faulkner
James Faulkner
James Sebastian Faulkner is a British actor, known for his many various appearance on television and in movies, usually in supporting roles.Faulkner made his big screen debut as Josef Strauss in The Great Waltz in 1972...
) delivers on his end of the deal, having the agents under his command intercept the Interpol convoy that is transporting 47 to the airport, giving 47 the distraction necessary to escape. The scene then flashes forward to the conversation between Whittier and 47 occurring at Whittier's house. After wrapping up their conversation, 47 reveals the body of Mr. Price, shaved and dressed to look like 47. They make a deal in which Whittier will go along with 47's plan, admitting that the body in his home is the real 47. As 47 leaves, he turns to Whittier and says that he hopes to never see Whittier again.
The scene then changes to Nika, who is shown picking up an envelope from an undisclosed sender. Inside it, there are papers and a message saying that she now owns a vineyard (she had told 47 of her childhood dream of having one). Meanwhile, 47 is watching her from afar, through the scope of his sniper rifle. He then looks at the corpse of another hitman
Hitman
A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
, lying close to him, and says, "I told you to leave her alone. You should have listened." He then turns back, and walks away.
Cast
- Timothy OlyphantTimothy OlyphantTimothy David Olyphant is an American actor whose notable roles in television drama series include Deadwood as Seth Bullock, Justified as Raylan Givens, The Office as Danny Cordray, and Damages as Wes Krulik...
as Agent 47Agent 47Agent 47 is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the Hitman video-game series. Created by IO Interactive, the character was developed around David Bateson, who also provided the in-game voice...
: An orphaned child (though in the video games he is the result of cloning experiments), kidnapped and trained by the Organization to become an elite assassin. He is the main protagonist in this story.- Borislav Parvanov as a young Agent 47
- Dougray ScottDougray Scott-Early life:The son of Elma, a nurse, and Alan Scott, an actor and salesperson, Stephen Dougray Scott was born in Glenrothes, Fife and attended Auchmuty High School...
as Mike Whittier: Interpol agent Mike Whittier has been tracking Agent 47 for quite some time. During this film, he finally gets to confront his mysterious target. - Olga KurylenkoOlga KurylenkoOlha Kostyantynivna Kurylenko , better known as Olga Kurylenko, is a French actress and model. She is perhaps best known as the Bond girl, Camille Montes, in the 22nd James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. She also portrayed Nika Boronina in the movie adaptation of the video game Hitman...
as Nika Boronina: A woman who is swept into companionship with Agent 47 as events unfold. - Robert KnepperRobert KnepperRobert Lyle Knepper is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell in the Fox network's drama series Prison Break, for which he was nominated a Satellite Award...
as Yuri Marklov: Lead agent of an FSB force, he joins in the chase to capture Agent 47. - Ulrich ThomsenUlrich ThomsenUlrich Thomsen is a Danish actor.Thomsen was born in Fyn, Denmark and graduated from the Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance in 1993, after which playing on several theatres in Copenhagen, such as Dr. Dantes Aveny, Mungo Park and Østre Gasværks Teater.His film debut was in...
as Mikhail Belicoff: The Russian President, Mikhail Belicoff is targeted by Agent 47 as a mark early on in the film. - Henry Ian CusickHenry Ian CusickHenry Ian Cusick is a Scottish-Peruvian actor of stage, television, and film. He is well-known for his role as Desmond Hume on the United States television series Lost, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination....
as Udre Belicoff: Sibling of Mikhail Belicoff, an international criminal wanted by the CIA and the FSB, while protected by his President brother. - James FaulknerJames FaulknerJames Sebastian Faulkner is a British actor, known for his many various appearance on television and in movies, usually in supporting roles.Faulkner made his big screen debut as Josef Strauss in The Great Waltz in 1972...
as Smith Jamison: A CIA agent who helps Agent 47 evade Interpol.
Production
In February 2003, Hitman makers EidosEidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
and IO Interactive
IO Interactive
IO Interactive is a Danish video game development company currently owned by Square Enix. The company was founded in September 1998 by the Reto-Moto development group. To date their most popular franchise is the critically acclaimed Hitman series...
entered negotiations with Hollywood production companies to adapt the video game to film. Twentieth Century Fox eventually acquired the rights and hired screenwriter Skip Woods
Skip Woods
Skip Woods, is an American screenwriter, producer and film director. He is best known for writing the screenplay for Swordfish and the film adaptation of the Hitman video game series...
to pen the screenplay with actor Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He became known in the early 2000s, appearing in several successful Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and xXx...
executive producing and starring in the film. In December 2006, Vin Diesel stepped down from the role. In January 2007, Timothy Olyphant
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant is an American actor whose notable roles in television drama series include Deadwood as Seth Bullock, Justified as Raylan Givens, The Office as Danny Cordray, and Damages as Wes Krulik...
was cast into the lead role with director Xavier Gens
Xavier Gens
Xavier Gens is a French film director.-Director:*Vanikoro *The Divide *Hitman *Frontier *Sable noir - short film*Au petit matin - short film*Born to Kast - short film...
attached at the helm. In March, actor Dougray Scott
Dougray Scott
-Early life:The son of Elma, a nurse, and Alan Scott, an actor and salesperson, Stephen Dougray Scott was born in Glenrothes, Fife and attended Auchmuty High School...
was cast as the antagonist to Agent 47, with Olga Kurylenko
Olga Kurylenko
Olha Kostyantynivna Kurylenko , better known as Olga Kurylenko, is a French actress and model. She is perhaps best known as the Bond girl, Camille Montes, in the 22nd James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. She also portrayed Nika Boronina in the movie adaptation of the video game Hitman...
, Robert Knepper
Robert Knepper
Robert Lyle Knepper is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell in the Fox network's drama series Prison Break, for which he was nominated a Satellite Award...
, Ulrich Thomsen
Ulrich Thomsen
Ulrich Thomsen is a Danish actor.Thomsen was born in Fyn, Denmark and graduated from the Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance in 1993, after which playing on several theatres in Copenhagen, such as Dr. Dantes Aveny, Mungo Park and Østre Gasværks Teater.His film debut was in...
, and Michael Offei also joining the cast. Production began the week of March 27, 2007 in Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and lasted 12 weeks. A second unit
Second unit
In film, the second unit is a team that shoots subsidiary footage for a motion picture. Its work is distinct from that of the first unit, which shoots all scenes involving principal actors...
also shot in locations including London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, St. Petersburg, and Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
.
The release of the film was set back a few months before release, this was to allow for the reshooting of several scenes. The new scenes included a stand-off between 4 assassins who go on to participate in a sword fight, which replaced the original train platform sequence, simply consisting of Agent 47
Agent 47
Agent 47 is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the Hitman video-game series. Created by IO Interactive, the character was developed around David Bateson, who also provided the in-game voice...
facing off against one assassin. Reports before the film's release confirmed that not only reshoots were taking place, but that Fox may have totally removed Xavier Gens from his directing position and denied him the final cut. Nicolas de Toth was brought in at this stage to soften the edit and cut down material.
47's origins were also changed at this stage, Xavier Gens
Xavier Gens
Xavier Gens is a French film director.-Director:*Vanikoro *The Divide *Hitman *Frontier *Sable noir - short film*Au petit matin - short film*Born to Kast - short film...
told an interviewer that whilst they are not directly dealing with the clone storyline, one scene (being the original train station sequence) which shows a bald, barcoded assassin (Jean-Marc Bellu) following Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant is an American actor whose notable roles in television drama series include Deadwood as Seth Bullock, Justified as Raylan Givens, The Office as Danny Cordray, and Damages as Wes Krulik...
), another bald, barcoded assassin, is very explicit and showed his intention to keep him as a clone. The detail was likely changed to accommodate for the casting of actors of mixed races during reshoots, making it impossible for them to be clones (or at least clones of the same person).
Box office
Hitman was originally stated to be released on October 12, 2007 in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, but the film's release was postponed to November 21, 2007. Hitman opened in 2,458 theaters in the United States and Canada, grossing $13,180,769 in its opening weekend, ranking fourth at the box office. The following weekend, Hitman opened in 12 markets, having the following highlights: $150,355 in 38 theaters in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, $224,449 in 37 theaters in Malaysia. and $244,329 in 32 theaters in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. In Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, the film opened in fourth place with approximately $100,000. The film also performed weakly in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
with $19,321 in 6 theaters. As of July 2, 2008, the film has grossed $39,687,694 in the United States and Canada and $60,245,563 in other territories for a worldwide total of $99,933,257, exceeding its estimated budget of $24,000,000. The DVD sales equal $27,858,148 in the US alone, putting the total gross for Hitman at around $128 million USD, not counting television airing rights.
Critical reception
The film received generally negative reviews. The review aggregator website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 14% of critics gave the film a positive rating, based on 98 reviews, with an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 3.7/10. At the website MetaCritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which uses a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating system, the film earned an unfavorable rating of 35/100 based on 22 reviews.
The most common complaints are a lacking, often confusing plot, dry acting and extreme violence. However, film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave it three stars out of four, saying "Hitman stands right on the threshold between video games and art. On the wrong side of the threshold, but still, give it credit". In 2009, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
listed the film on their list of top ten worst video games movies.
Home video
An unrated version of Hitman was released in the high definition Blu-ray format on March 11, 2008, and features extras including deleted scenes, an alternate ending and a gag reel. This version also features a special digital copyDigital copy
Digital Copy provides consumers who purchase a film on DVD or Blu-ray Disc with an additional, digital copy of the movie for devices capable of operating with a file in contrast to a DVD.-Features:...
of the film which can be transferred to a portable media device like an iPod. A standard definition DVD was released on March 11 as well in three versions. A single disc theatrical version, a single disc unrated version, and an unrated special edition including many extras, and the digital copy mentioned above. The unrated DVD is one minute longer than the theatrical cut and includes a few extended scenes with more blood. The UK version of the film was available on Blu-ray and DVD from 31 March 2008.
The French Blu-ray version of the film came with 10 deleted scenes, accompanied with French audio commentary by Xavier Gens. Some of the scenes included are the original assassination, in which Ovie survives, is taken to hospital only to be killed via lethal injection by 47
Agent 47
Agent 47 is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the Hitman video-game series. Created by IO Interactive, the character was developed around David Bateson, who also provided the in-game voice...
disguised as a doctor. The alternate train platform sequence which features no sword fight, as well as showing the older assassin biting off his tongue to avoid giving answers to 47, and an extended departure sequence between 47 and Nika, which shows Yuri and his men stopping their train and boarding it to look for 47.
An alternate ending in the Special Features of the DVD show 47 watching Nika through his Sniper Scope as she opens the envelope. She then turns down a corner of a small street to be shot dead in a drive-by, possibly by men loyal to the organization behind the fake Belicoff, all while 47 watches.
Sequel
IESB has confirmed that 20th Century Fox20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
has hired writer Kyle Ward to pen the script for the sequel to Hitman. Adrian Askarieh, Daniel Alter and Chuck Gordon will return as producers. American actor David Hess
David Hess
David Alexander Hess was an American actor, singer, and songwriter.-Music career:In 1956, Hess recorded the original version of the Otis Blackwell composition "All Shook Up" under the stage name David Hill...
, who died in October 2011, had been reported to have an as-yet-unnamed role and Timothy Olyphant
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant is an American actor whose notable roles in television drama series include Deadwood as Seth Bullock, Justified as Raylan Givens, The Office as Danny Cordray, and Damages as Wes Krulik...
will return as 47. Daniel Benmayor has signed to direct the sequel. Daniel Casey
Daniel Casey
-Early life:The son of journalist and television presenter Luke Casey, he grew up in Stockton-on-Tees and attended Grey College, Durham, graduating with a BA in English Literature before pursuing a career in acting.-Career:...
will completely rewrite the film, or base it upon the previous script by Kyle Ward.