I enjoyed that headline.
Anyway, apparently the dire 'Hitman' videogame adaptation has been commissioned a sequel by 20th Century Fox. Based on their DVD sales and other such sundries, the film scraped enough cash out of the wallets of the public and therefore 'Hitman 2' has been given a green light. Statistically, it holds up. The film's budget was $70 million, and it made $100 million back - this does not include DVD sales or rights sales, so it was actually relatively profitable. Unfortunately. There was nothing remotely laudable about the first film, which rather confused the 'stealth' thing that tends to be emphasized in the games with 'blow shit up Michael Bay-lite'. The problem is that what people forgot is that hitmen aren't supposed to leave a trail of destruction in their wake (makes 'em harder to find, see), and that being built like the proverbial shithouse and sporting a barcode, as well as wasting anyone who looks at you funny, sort of makes the character hard to believe in and makes the atmosphere feel ludicrous at best.
Whether or not Xavier Gens, the original's director, will return for directing work is unknown. We know that Kyle Ward (whose current credits include, uh, 'Kane & Lynch', a still in development game adaptation and another in production film called 'Fiasco Heights'), a relatively untested screenwriter has been hired to do writing duties. The producing team of Daniel Alter, Adrian Askarieh and Chuck Gordon are returning too.
*sigh* I simply can't muster up any enthusiasm for this film. The first film was bad, and nobody but the money-counters at 20th Century Fox actually wants to see this. Not in the least that it will waste the excellent Timothy Olyphant, and will just add to the roster of shitty 'games-into-movies' that exist in hollywood. If you want me, I'll be in the bar.
Source: IESB -
http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7070&Itemid=99 
November 23, 2007, 01:33:42 AM
