'Hitman 2' - Another Sequel Nobody Wants
I may have to hold my nose for this one. Hitman 2 is in development, says Variety, and 20th Century Fox has hired Kyle Ward to write a script that incorporates elements from "Hitman 5," a video game due for release in late 2010. So a movie sequel will be cribbing from a video game sequel, and more crappy product will fill the corporate pipeline.
Reportedly, the first Hitman was made for $30 million. It grossed $40 million in the US and $60 million overseas, according to Box Office Mojo. The overseas total and DVD sales must have pushed it well into the black, ensuring that a sequel would be inevitable. Putting aside the bottom line, the film itself was relentlessly mediocre. I entered with modest expectations, having heard that Fox had taken the project away from director Xavier Gens, who made the ferocious horror thriller Frontière(s). The studio denied the rumors, but Hitman felt flat and flaccid, only occasionally offering glimpses of the brilliance Gens had shown. Whether it was sophomore slump or studio interference, I ask you: did anyone leave the theater pumping their fist in the air, shouting, "More! I want more! More Hitman! Now!"
I didn't think so. Timothy Olyphant, who was so good in Deadwood, wasn't a very compelling assassin, and Olga Kurylenko supplied nothing more than decorative value. For those who care, Hitman 2 finds Agent 47 "at a low point. He must build himself back up psychologically and physically to reclaim his mantle as the world's most feared assassin." I can hardly wait.
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Discuss: The Movies That Haunt You
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-25-2009 @ 7:36PM
puttyhi5 said...
I truly did enjoy the first film. I am, in fact, looking forward to the sequal. I am a fan of the games and seeing the game elements portrayed on the big screen was quite a treat. Your question asking whether anyone left the theater pumping their fists into the air, and then your subsequent answer is appaling for a journalist to make. Granted you are writing a commentary piece, but I am assuming you went to college and recieved your degree in comunications which must have included a couple AP Style classes. I do know that it is highly unethical for you to ask a direct question to your audience and then answer that question as if you speak for every person that will read this article. Of course, I could be completely wrong and you are just some hack that managed to know the right people in the right jobs to get you this position.
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6-25-2009 @ 7:39PM
MCW said...
I see it so often, with any sequel, it's just commonplace to me now. He is required by AOL law to say that the sequel to every movie is unwanted. Obviously he hasn't seen the Friday the 13th series. Imagine if only 1 movie had come out. No one would ever talk about it, because the original sucked.
6-25-2009 @ 7:36PM
MCW said...
Why not? Whenever I see a sequel is coming for any movie, including movies I've seen and not cared for, I still want to see the sequel.
Take for instance S. Darko, the sequel to Donnie Darko. No one will agree with me, and I'm not here to argue, but S. Darko is a good movie. Watching Darko years ago, would I have wanted a sequel? No, but it came out, and it turned out better than I expected. Same goes for The Cell 2.
So yeah, I'll see Hitman 2 on Blu-ray, and I'm not afraid to say that I will. Now, if you said The Love Guru 2 was on the way, I would walk to Mike Myers' home and slap common sense back into him.
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6-26-2009 @ 9:29AM
madgamer said...
I'll see it. I watched the first one on Blu-ray the other day and it was actually better than I remembered.
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6-29-2009 @ 11:36PM
DanJack said...
At least it's not a "re-boot". I never thought I would long for the days when regular sequels were the norm instead of the awful reboot trend that has taken over our society. I for one do not look forward to seeing a remake of a movie five years after the original came out. At least with sequels a writer has the opportunity to take familiar characters and take them in a new direction.
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6-29-2009 @ 7:35PM
GL said...
The first film was no award winner, but I enjoyed it. I don't have any feeling that the second film won't suck, but you never know.
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7-04-2009 @ 6:32PM
Rashad Ferguson said...
While Hitman was not the greatest of movies it was a solid action move that kept me entertained from beginning to end. In most cases critics, reviewers and even fans take a movie like Hitman too seriously. It is entertainment nothing more sit back grab some popcorn some soda and enjoy.
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7-06-2009 @ 1:01PM
wayne09 said...
Well im just being short 4 this the 1st hitman was good movie wit bad actors so 4 da sequel i think 4 da lead role they should get vin diesel who we know has muscles and the action experience and of course the bald and he is also a boxoffic success
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7-15-2009 @ 2:49PM
Jim said...
i thought the film could have been better......they made 47 more of a hero than a psycopath....and the one liners made the movie even worse.....they could have done so much more with this movie....but no they fuck it up.....20th century fox is good at that.....the only thing we can do is hope the seqeul is better.
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