The planned live-action adaptation of the Hitman franchise on Hulu has officially been canceled.
Hitman is a stealth video game series created by IO Interactive, where players control contract killer Agent 47 and travel the world, assassinating various targets. As of now, there have been eight mainline games in the franchise.
This TV adaptation was first announced in 2017, with Fox 21 Television Studios and Hulu set to adapt the series. Derek Kolstad was brought on as executive producer and was set to write the pilot. He is best known for his work on the “John Wick” franchise, and thus seems like he would have been perfect to help adapt Hitman.
In an exclusive talk with The Direct, filmmaker Derek Kolstad said, “It’s a little bit of a dagger in the chest. Who knows nowadays, but it’s dead in the water. But, man, I love that thing, because I love that game and I love that character. But the problem is, I can write a screenplay, but no one’s going to go out and buy the screenplay. You’ve got to make the movie, you’ve got to make the show. But nothing’s happening with that man, sadly.”
Some fans of the video game series are disappointed with this cancellation, saying that they hoped for episodic missions featuring elaborate kills. While this adaptation is not moving forward, there have already been two previous adaptations of the Hitman franchise on the big screen.
The first was “Hitman,” which came out in 2007 and starred Timothy Olyphant as the titular Agent 47. It debuted to a score of only 16% on Rotten Tomatoes, but it was still able to earn roughly $100 million at the box office on an estimated budget of only $24 million. A sequel was planned, but Olyphant was not willing to return.
A reboot titled “Hitman: Agent 47” was released in 2015, starring Rupert Friend as Agent 47. It was reviewed even worse than the first adaptation, with it scoring only 8% on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite this, the film was still able to make over $82 million on a budget of $35 million.
The poor reviews of these two films come as no surprise, as before recent years, video game adaptations were mostly seen as Hollywood cash grabs. But since the start of the 2020s, this reputation has started to change as Hollywood invests in more high-quality and faithful adaptations in both film and television.
On the film side of things, we have seen major success with the “Sonic the Hedgehog” franchise, even with its initial rough design. The franchise has released three movies so far, with two currently in the works. There have also been massive box office successes with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “A Minecraft Movie.” Both of these films are turning into franchises of their own, with “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” releasing in a couple of weeks and “A Minecraft Movie 2” releasing next year.
Television has also seen great success with the critically acclaimed series “The Last of Us” from HBO, “Fallout” from Prime Video, and “Arcane,” “Devil May Cry,” and “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners” from Netflix. There are also countless more adaptations in production, including Prime Video’s “God of War,” “Tomb Raider,” and “Life is Strange.” Netflix’s “Assassin’s Creed” and many more, both in animation and live-action.It’s sad to hear about another TV series cancellation, and especially one of a video game franchise. Comment down below or message me on Instagram @zachfornalmedia with your thoughts on this cancellation, and let me know what video game franchise you want to see as a television show.
