Hitman In New Hands

By Rafe Telsch: 2007-10-11 18:21:08

I haven’t heard anyone giving outrageous praise to the trailers for the Hitman movie. Either people complain about how leading man Timothy Olyphant doesn’t quite look right as the bald Agent-47, or there’s the old standby complaint that video games have yet to have a successful film adaptation. Maybe we’re judging the preview a little too harshly though, because it sounds like Xavier Gens may have gotten Hitman a little too right for Fox’s taste.

A couple of days ago Twitch reported that Fox had pulled Gens from the editing room, replacing the Hitman director with Nicholas De Toth, who the studio entrusted with Live Free or Die Hard earlier this year. The trust was that De Toth would turn in a viable sequel to the franchise with a PG-13 rating. Now the scuttlebutt is that they are trying for the same thing with Hitman: a successful video game movie with a safe PG-13 rating. Apparently Gens’ cut of the movie was far too bloody and violent for such a teen-safe rating.

Since then, Fox has responded to Twitch, stating that Gens is still on the project but confirming De Toth has been brought on board as a “consultant”. The studio denied the allegation that they want a PG-13 rating for the film, though, making everyone who reads the article wonder why De Toth was brought in. If they don’t care about the rating, why take the project out of the director’s hands, or bring a “consultant” in to do whatever it is he’ll do (I can’t help but think that, given the movie’s crime theme, a “consultant” is the person who breaks kneecaps if Fox isn’t happy).

The idea that this could be a rated-R flick is actually a good sign for a movie that looked far too watered down from the trailers. Even if we only get the rated-R version in an “unrated” DVD release, it sounds promising. On the other hand, De Toth pushed the line on Live Free or Die Hard and its PG-13 rating, so even if he is chopping the movie down, this could still be a decent flick. Still, I can’t say I agree with taking a picture away from the person who carried a vision through production. It’s almost never a good thing, which means Hitman could be as doomed as everyone’s suspected.

Latest Headlines:

Trailer: Tobey Maguire And Jake Gyllenhaal Are Brothers

Even More Alice In Wonderland Images

Strange Patriotism: The American Flag's Weirdest Moments On Film

Inglourious Basterds Banners

View-Master: The Movie

Tony Stark's Iron Man 2 Race Car

Superman May Be Done With Brandon Routh

First Look At Eminem in Funny People

Public Enemies Poll: Tell Us What You Think

Jessica Biel In Thor?

Comment on “Hitman In New Hands”

Note: This website is not meant for use by minors. The views expressed in the comments section below are not our own. This section is intended for discussion of the topic in the post above. Disagreement is encouraged, however comments which attack, insult, or threaten the author in a personal manner won't be published. Similarly, comments that we deem to be poorly worded, or wildly off topic will also not be approved and may be mocked. For free, uncensored, unfettered, and possibly dangerous discussion visit our forum.

Subscribe to topic comments

Please login or sign up to post reply

Back to Hitman In New Hands

Hitman In New Hands

Comment on “Hitman In New Hands”

Leave a Reply