Hitman film trailer on web

By Tom Bramwell Published 26 June, 2007

The other kind of shooting.

The theory goes that videogames and film have never got on, but in truth they seldom even get to know one another, with countless projects announced and then never heard from again.

Some do though, and one that's gained an uncustomary tangibility is Hitman, which is now visible in an actual trailer with moving bits and acting and all sorts.

Well, there's no dialogue, but there is scene-setting; a hint at an "origins" twang of the plot's bassoon; a lot of slow-motion shots of Agent 47 actor Timothy Olyphant fiddling with guns; and Ave Maria soaring over the top to infuse it all with a bit of class.

The rest of the film will reportedly focus on 47's flight from Interpol and the Russian military as he tries to unstitch a stitch-up with him at the centre. And there's a girl in it too, so that's something.

It's all been directed by Xavier Gens (us neither), and should be out in American cinemas on 12th October, giving Hitman publisher Eidos a much higher actually-seeing-something-happen to simply-banking-the-cheque ratio than a hatful of other game-to-film publishers, having already watched a pair of Tomb Raider films (however dull) backflip onto screens in 2001 and 2003.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (35) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Steve007 #1 5 years ago

    Looks proper bo!

  • Lutz #2 5 years ago

    It's Al Murray!

  • JayPee #3 5 years ago

    Timothy Olyphant?

    Yeah, I guess he's a good fit. He's pretty imtimidating in the Girl Next Door, and does a good job in Deadwood.

  • GamesConnoisseur #4 5 years ago

    No its Duncan Goodhew!!

  • #5 5 years ago

    It's peej!

  • souljacker2000 #6 5 years ago

    haha Duncan goodhew!!

    Love it

  • Gl3n #7 5 years ago

    Awesome backing music for that trailer

  • SimonM7 #8 5 years ago

    No Jesper Kyd in the trailer? Boooo!

  • Kilroy #9 5 years ago

    What's with the lass? Do we really want to see Mr. 47 going all soft and mushy because of some mysterious girl? (No!)
    And please get some Jesper Kyd in there. And please don't tell me that they imply that hitman is some sort of angel in human form. Because then I'm going to hunt down the crew behind the movie.

  • PearOfAnguish #10 5 years ago

    No Jesper? You're kydding!


    Ba-dum-tish.


    He looks the part, but I can't help thinking that Billy Zane would have been a better choice.

  • smoothpete #11 5 years ago

    Should've been Brad Pitt. IMHO.

  • bdc #12 5 years ago

    Jason Statham or Ben Kingsley.

  • Subquest #13 5 years ago

    Too much crash bang wallop. I don't think the director's going for the 'silent assassin' rating here.

    Plus the guy looks too young. Besides the shaven head he doesn't look the part imo.

    Also, lets hope that chick wasn't a love interest and instead gets piano wired.

    EDIT: re: Ben Kingsley - probably too old now but something along those lines...
    Edited by 1 at 26/06/07 @ 17:45

  • Beano #14 5 years ago

    The trailer looks rubbish... just like the games.

  • Artemus #15 5 years ago

    That music was in Blood Money I'm fairly sure.

  • azwipe #16 5 years ago

    clive owen could do a good 47

  • YourMessageHere #17 5 years ago

    Did I miss something (never got on with the game's play style but always thought it could make a great film), or is the whole "sent by God to bring us peace" angle a bunch of made up bullshit for the benefit of the film that completely undermines the feel of Hitman?

    I thought a major point of the Hitman series the whole thing was that it was meant to be very antiheroic, morally ambiguous, etc. and now he's killing people for God so it's all firmly OK by the US public. Pathetic. Unless by not playing I've missed this coming out in the games, of course; I'm sure it wasn't anywhere in the first one, anyway.

  • Dr.Mott #18 5 years ago

    Sent by God. Pah!

  • PearOfAnguish #19 5 years ago

    Who knows what the fuck that's about. Hopefully it's just some bullshit they put in the trailer to get people to the cinema. Hitman is supposed to be a killer-for-hire, not the Lord's Angel of Death, for fucks sake.

  • huxathon #20 5 years ago

    video removed so here's a handy youtube link:

    [link url=http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=XBUSyxzBD9k
    ]http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=XBUSyxzBD9k
    [/link]

    could be cool, looks quite classy, but this is clearly Jason Statham's role. If he was dubbed by Sir Ben.

  • _Price_ #21 5 years ago

    Give me Leon over this any day of the week....

  • Triggerhappytel #22 5 years ago

    All I can say is thank fuck it's not Vin Diesel after all.

  • The-Bodybuilder #23 5 years ago

    What the? TABUMBO????

    Oh yes, an assasin, made from darkness and armed with two pistols and a sniper rifle, is anointed and sent by God to bring peace by killing LOADS of people.

    Oh, and did I mention that he will be a serial fornicator?

    Yes, sent by God indeed.

    P.S: This role was made for statham. That guy looked like a pretty boy trying to look mean.
    Edited by 1 at 26/06/07 @ 23:17

  • Wyrm #24 5 years ago

    It's Al Murray!

    Looked rubbish though, didn't detect any of the sinister lethality of the games. Explosions? Go away.

  • marilena #25 5 years ago

    Yeah, he didn't look menacing at all. His face is to delicate and generally he's a bit of a girl. Too many guns, too, not that the guy looks like he could strangle somebody.

    And the angel plot is surprisingly far from the games, it makes you wonder why the bother to buy the license at all.

  • Freek #26 5 years ago

    The whole angel thing is just ment to be metaphorical, a way of introducing the character to the general audiance. Trailers often do that.

    He's definetly not verry menacing though, probably on purpose. I have the feeling the studio diden't want a scary man in the leading role, thinking audiances woulden't take to that. Going for the more traditional hero type.
    Wich is obviously not true to the game at all.
    Edited by 1 at 27/06/07 @ 07:59

  • JonFE #27 5 years ago

    "...this is clearly Jason Statham's role..."
    +1

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #28 5 years ago

    Didn't Agent 47 live in a church or a monastery or something at the beginning of Hitman 2?

    If it's an origins story, then it's reasonably fitting that he looks quite young.

  • UncleLou #29 5 years ago

    The trailer looks rubbish... just like the games.

    Oh dear.

    In particular Blood Money is an absolute marvel in level design. A gazillion different ways to solve each level, without the game being too easy despite of it, and without any of the "you can crawl through the vent or go guns blazing" design lazyness.

    I really have no idea how anyone could come to the conclusion that the games are rubbish, unless they just don't understand how to play them or general hate intelligent game design for some weird reason.
    Edited by 1 at 27/06/07 @ 09:07

  • zuljin #30 5 years ago

    Trailer removed...

    /Falls to knees

    Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

    EDIT: Have to start reading all comments...
    Edited by 1 at 27/06/07 @ 09:27

  • Pike #31 5 years ago

    I see no problem, at this point with the religous allusions. Hitman 2 was pretty heavy with the avenging angel themes at times. The ending in particular drove the point home.

  • kangarootoo #32 5 years ago

    Not quite sure what to make of it yet.

    First off, I don't think there is any suggestion that he is somehow supernatural or angel like. I think he is just supposed to be somehow involved with the church (remember the monstary connections from several of the Hitman games).

    There was also a scene in Hitman where after rescuing a prostitute in Tokyo, she kisses 47 on the cheek. He staggers back as if he has never been kissed before, or had any intimate contact with anyone for that matter. The scene with the woman in the hotel room looked akin to that in my eyes (though it was a short scene so its hard to read). I.e. hooker is there to "show him a good time", but the look on his face and his body language is saying he doesn't quite know how to deal with the situation, and the normally calm killer is feeling very uncomfortable.

    On that basis, I'm not sure that a female influence showing a weaker side to 47 is out of keeping with the game character. Its just that in the game the reference is very brief.

    There is something about the actor that doesn't quite look right to me, but then the game character is obviously a very strong depiction and so maybe no actor could quite look right. The game character has very hard cheek bones and sharp eyes. The actor seems kind of "rounder" overall. That said, I'm sure I would forget about that after a few mins of watching.

    I have a sneaking suspicion that all the best scenes could be in the trailer, but I am a cynic like that. I remain interested.

  • Narv #33 5 years ago

    Trailer also available here: http://www. movieweb.com/news/63/18763.php

  • rudedudejude #34 5 years ago

    Loved the quick shot of him pulling his silencer up behind a guys head - thats true hitman style!!

    Roll on Hitman 2: 47 vs. Leon

  • CrawlingKingSnakes #35 5 years ago

    'Engineered from darkness', 'protected by divinity' - pfff, pretty weak stuff.

  • kangarootoo #36 5 years ago

    Brewed in turbos, filtered through jets.

    :)