Hitmanis officially heading to the small screen. After a couple of less-than-favorable attempts to bring the video game to the big screen, Hulu has decided that they’re going to give a TV adaptation ofHitmana shot. While the movies have done little to make anyone think this is a good idea, Hulu has tapped Derek Kolstad, the man responsible for creating the John Wick franchise. He is going to write the pilot script and executive produce the newHitmanseries. Considering how greatJohn Wickis, this new series is off to a promising start.
The newHitmanTV show is a joint venture between Fox and Hulu. In addition to Derek Kolstad, the creative team for the project includes Adrian Askarieh, Chuck Gordon as producers, with Bert Salke, Jane Francis, Gloria Fan and Kira Innes producing for Fox and Jordan Helman for Hulu. While details on the series are scarce at the moment, it’s said that Hulu and Fox have hopes thatHitmanwill become a “flagship” series for thestreaming service.
This is truly the first major project for Derek Kolstad that doesn’t take place in theJohn Wick universe. In addition to writing the first movie, he’s written a script for the forthcomingJohn Wick 3, which is set for release in 2019. He’s also said to be writingThe Continental, which is the spin-off TV series set within the world of theJohn Wickmovies. But, sinceHitmaninvolves a lot ofgunsand guys in suits, it seems like he’s a good fit for the series and could be the guy to get a live-action version of thevideo gameright.
Fox has released twoHitmanmovies over the course of the last decade, neither of which were big hits. The first, 2007’sHitman, starred Timothy Olyphant (Justified) in the lead role and made $99 million worldwide and was met with mostly negative reviews. The second attempt, 2015’sHitman: Agent 47, made even less, with just $82 million worldwide. That version features Rupert Friend (Pride and Prejudice) as the titularassassinand was met with even more distaste from critics and fans alike. Video game movies have always had trouble, but perhaps aHitmanTV show can work better.
Hitmanwas created by IO Interactive as a video game franchise in 2000 and has had tremendous success in that medium. To date, the games have sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. According toDeadline’sreport, this new TV series will “hew closely to the mythology” of the video games, which follow an assassin named Agent 47 with a very mysterious backstory. There’s no word yet on when the series is expected to premiere, or who may play the part of Agent 47 this time around. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date as more information on the project is made available.
