Live-Action “Hitman” TV Series Scrapped

A proposed Hulu live-action TV series based on the acclaimed “Hitman” video game franchise has been scrapped.

First announced back in 2017, “John Wick” creator Derek Kolstad was attached as executive producer alongside franchise gatekeepers Adrian Askarieh and Chuck Gordon for Fox 21 Television and Hulu. The games center on Agent 47, a meticulous and lethal assassin with a mysterious backstory.

Several entries were released to a variety of reception across the 2000s and early 2010s. Things really took off though with the “Hitman: World of Assassination” game trilogy from 2016-2021 which were widely praised and lead to developer IO Interactive developing “007: First Light” releasing this May.

Kolstad once described his take on the material as “The Third Man meets Three Days in the Condor” and speaking with The Direct at SXSW, he revealed that plans for the previously discussed series aren’t moving forward:

“It’s dead in the water. No… 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.”

20th Century Fox attempted to adapt the property for film twice, both times proved a disappointment and were slammed for completely missing the point of the games.

The movies showed off big scale action shootout sequences in generic locations – the game is all about stealth, lavish international locales, quirky dark humour, deception and taking out targets in imaginative or clever ways.