Hitman to Become Live-Action TV Series on Hulu
Deadline has reported that Hulu is teaming up with Fox 21 to develop a television series based on IO Interactive’s bestselling game, Hitman. Derek Kolstad, who created John Wick, will write the pilot script for the series, which is slated for a 2019 release. Hitman: Code Name 47 originally launched November 19, 2000, spanning six games and two films, the latest title Hitman released November 2016.
Hitman is a first-person shooter that centers on a highly skilled assassin known as Agent 47, who escaped from an asylum where he was genetically modified and experimented on his entire life. Throughout the games the player goes on assassination missions, uncovers plots with intriguing stories, yet Agent 47’s background is mostly an enigma. The television series is said to adhere closely to the game.
At present, there are no more known details about the Hitman franchise except IO Interactive is also developing two more Hitman games. In June 2017, IO announced that they had bought themselves out from under their parent company, Square Enix in a deal that allowed them to keep their bald assassin as they become an indie developer once more. With the release of Hitman Game of the Year, IO shared with fans that Hitman surpassed “7 million players.”
The 2007 Hitman film received mixed reviews, with noted film critic Roger Ebert giving it 3 out of 4 stars, saying "Hitman stands right on the threshold between video games and art. On the wrong side of the threshold, but still, give it credit". Ebert was not as kind in reviewing Hitman: Agent 47, the 2015 reboot, calling it “is aggressively awful” and “…it does nothing to either distinguish itself from the action movie crowd or even to appeal to fans of the game series on which it is SO loosely based as to really insult its core audience.” There were no positive reviews of the Hitman reboot.
Will the television series have the same fate as the films? Or will the tv series finally give fans a live-action version that does the game justice? If Derek Kolstad can bring the same magic of John Wick to the Hitman series, fans will likely be pleased.
