Movie News

First Look: Timothy Olyphant as Agent 47 in Hitman

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on May 16, 2007

Today seems to be a good day for set photos and other imagery. On top of the cool John Rambo pics from earlier and the awesome Silver Surfer stills yet to come, German Film Forum BereitsGesehen.de had some set pictures of Timothy Olyphant as Agent 47 in Hitman. Directed by Xavier Gens and Produced by Luc Besson, Hitman is an adaptation of the popular video game in which Agent 47 (Olyphant) is sold out by his employer and caught up in a political conspiracy that puts him on the run.

Check out the photos below:

Now, I am a believer that video game movies can be good, as long as Uwe Boll is not involved, but I have never really been a fan of Olyphant. I also never really pictured him as an action star. I’m willing to lend some blind faith to this one, at least until a trailer comes out - solely based on the fact that Luc Besson is involved. Otherwise, we can only wait and see.

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29 Comments

Microbefox says:
May 16th, 2007 at 4:45 pm

Geez, he looks like a light hearted Agent 47 in the bottom image. Dammit get in character, Olyphant! We need to believe it!

Dereck says:
May 20th, 2007 at 2:12 pm

Olyphant is amazing in Deadwood - I can buy it.

rick says:
July 4th, 2007 at 12:23 am

wheres the silverballers and custom rifle?they fucked up this movie.

Jimi says:
July 22nd, 2007 at 6:52 pm

Not as bad as I thought… We’ll see I guess…

http://www.Myspace.com/FFTBand

James says:
August 5th, 2007 at 1:23 pm

I have made many blogs about this, i really don’t think they know what the hell they are talking about in this movie, so Timothy Olyphant can go fuck himself and more importantly the director of this movie needs to kill himself. Do you know why? no, not many do. First of all Timothy Olyphant looks nothing like agent 47, he looks like a fucking teddy bear softy unfit for the movie, he doesn’t look scary AT ALL. Second of all,
they need to put Jason Statham in his place, so if Jason shaved his head really good, then makeup work, then the bar code, then the suit with THE “RED” shiny tie NOT the STRIPED MAROON TIE!!!!! that Olyphant has. Maybe they should put the game director
of “HITMAN BLOOD MONEY” for the director of the movie! Think about it!, JASON STATHAM, he was in all the Transporter movies and he is kick ASS. I think Xavier Gens needs to pull the fiber wire and sniper rifle barrel extension out of his ass and start getting new characters for his movie, perticulary Jason Statham. And they better use all of agent 47’s weapons, including my most favorite pistols in the world so far, the “.45 ACP Silverballers” nice and shiny. DO IT XAVIER DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

James says:
August 5th, 2007 at 1:27 pm

Email me if you have any comments

James says:
August 5th, 2007 at 1:59 pm

Alright then you did it Xavier fine fine, but you still need to do all the other stuff!!!!!!

Zoom says:
August 12th, 2007 at 1:28 pm

Cudnt agree more. Before the game to movie idea came up, my bro & i agreed that Jason Statham would most definately be the man for the job. That other f!!@k up looks like they got him off some romantic chic flick nyana or some ish. 47 should look & be mean. No1 would be more suited then Transporter dude.

Revan says:
August 17th, 2007 at 9:17 am

I agree too, Jason Statham would be an excellent candidate for 47. Though I think, like Olyphant, he might be too emotional. That is, when I was watching the movie trailer with Olyphant, you could see that he was ‘trying’ to look mean. But thats not what 47 is. 47 kills people without any emotion on his face, not even a remote expression of remorse, agression or regret for his decision. Olyphant displayed too much emotion, and so does Statham usually. Olyphant’s eyes are too warm…and human. If anyone has met, or seen a mob boss or anyone else in the caliber of mass murderer, you’ll see just how cold, dead and uncaring look in their eyes. Can anyone remember actors who can portray those dead and uncaring eyes genuinely? Maybe Vin Diesal? Oh wait, he stepped down dang it (might need some makeup to look albino).

Ah well, we know the reason they chose olyphant was because he’s easier for general consumption by the public. Portraying 47 with Vin Diesal and a morally ambiguous character is too risky for big hollywood studios. And as for the storyline, it looks rather ridiculous. They portray 47 as being a really good guy that kills bad guys, protects democracy and saves little kitties from trees. The genuine 47 kills because the money is good, and he’s good at killing, not because he likes killing.

Honestly, why do hollywood studios have to paint every single mainstream character as either morally black or white. 47 is as grey as they come and…oh wait, yeah, they do it because it has a higher calculated return on investment - not because they want to do justice to the source material. 300 is one of the best comic to screen translations i’ve seen in years. Where the heck is Zack Snyder when you need him?

And finally…did hollywood REALLY have to have 47 fall for a girl? The only time a girl falls for 47 is after he has pushed her over a 3rd story railing.

Corvin says:
August 27th, 2007 at 8:01 am

Well first of all.. you guys are damn right… WRONG FUKCING TIE!!!!
BUT.. you cant always have a move the way the game is!!!Â¨
Have you guys seen Tomb Raider??? other guns… a whole new house..
You NEED to change some things to build a movie out of the character and its story.
The people want something new.. it has always been like that and it will always be..
and no jason statham wouldnt have been a good 47… his face doesnt look like 47 AT ALL… (not even with shaved head) and NO… Forget Vin Diesel… his face wouldnt match either.. and dont forget that 47 does NOT have such big muscles.
They didnt just want US HITMAN GAMERS to see this movie… got it??? they want to have everyone watching it.. soo uhmmm thats prolly why they have a girl???
the movie isnt even out yet guys.. so stop complaining about it.. and go play blood money again… and KILL EVERYONE.. is more fun than complaining about a movie you havent even seen yet!!!!

Corvin says:
August 27th, 2007 at 8:03 am

oh yeaa by the way.. dont worry.. if you know Luc Besson… hey should do a good job.. if you have seen Leon ;-)

nightlander255 says:
August 30th, 2007 at 1:40 pm

i just wanted to say the movie actually looks pretty good….and that it is the right tie if you look closely at blood money you’ll see it is exactly the same tie….and i think we should give olyphant a chance …so far the movie looks pretty acurate….but we’ll see

Chird says:
September 1st, 2007 at 12:24 am

Just watched trailer 2 and I have to say this looks to be the game-to-film adaptation to beat. True Timothy Olyphant isn’t a perfect choice. True they added a romantic element to an otherwise unromantic franchise. True the weapons are slightly different. The fact remains that there is at least one well-respected filmmaker behind this one (Luc Besson) and while they’ve taken several creative liberties, they remain true to the storyline, look and feel of the character that we all know and love.

P.S. The â€œ.45 ACP Silverballersâ€ are 7 inch Springfield 1911 Harballers. From the logo and the brief glimpses of his guns in the trailer it appears he’s carrying dual silenced Glock 17’s instead. It’s possible this will be a reveal left for the film (he does use more than one type of pistol in the games after all). As for his “custom rifle” (the Walther WA2000) they show it at least 2 times in each of the trailers. Again, he is also using other rifles (notably an M29 and SVD Dragunov) but it’s in there if you know what to look for.

Zain says:
September 4th, 2007 at 9:09 pm

None of you have even seen the movie yet and you are already bitching about Olyphant being the wrong choice. I’m not too familiar with his work so I’m not biased. I’m going in it with a fresh look. I’m gonna atleast give the guy a chance People said Daniel Criag was the wrong choice for Bond now he’s being credited as the best Bond since Connery. Watch the movie then make your judgments. and Jason Statham would not be a good 47. I don’t remember 47 having a Britsh accent. Vin Diesel wouldnt be a good 47 either He’s not even the right skin tone. he looks nothing like 47 and 47 isn’t some hulking guy with alot of muscles.
Come on! Just because an actor is bald doesn’t make them a good 47!

Isaiah says:
September 9th, 2007 at 7:18 pm

A bald Kevin Spacey with a make-up artist’s touch. (They still make people like that right?) But I also heard it was gonna be Vin Disel…they could of made him more white, for the movie. This movie also NEEDS to be RATED R!!! HITMAN obviously KILLING obviously…THE GAME…obviously. Otherwise it’s just gonna be another X-MEN movie…great graphics…horrible story, actors, and plot. Wolverine was too damn tall and clean cut. AHHHH! Well. We’ll just have to watch wut happens//

van legend says:
September 26th, 2007 at 9:47 am

what ever the name is,he is really weak for that movie…ok…bcos i play this game 24/7 myself and i know the Sault of killing u got to do at a time….no mercy…and this guy his face look to baby and emotional for the roll….so either diesel or anybody els can be better ok….

Killer13 says:
October 9th, 2007 at 4:57 am

yup man you need to look like you meen it!

SCOOBY says:
November 5th, 2007 at 9:07 pm

OK, JAMES……WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!!!!!!!!! HOW DARE YOU SAY ANYTHING BAD ABOUT TIMOTHY OLYPHANT, U NEED TO GET A LIFE!!!!!! IF YOU DON’T LIKE HIM WHO GIVES A FLYING FUCK!!!! I LOVE HIM AND HE IS THE BEST ACTOR EVER AND CAN MAKE ANYTHING HAPPEN…HE WILL MAKE THE BEST AGENT 47…EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND FOR ALL YOU OTHER TARDS…..TIMOTHY ALWAYS IS IN CHARACTOR!!!!!!!!! SO SCREW ALL OF YOU HATERS!!!!!!!!! LEAVE TIMMY ALONE!!!!!!!!
P.S TIMOTHY OLYPHANT ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NEVER FOGET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gordon says:
November 23rd, 2007 at 11:20 am

i dont know anything bout the storyline but i just saw the movie and it was kick ass cept one part…he doesnt sleep with the hot chic in the movie!!! he has so many chances and it doesnt make sense why he didnt… can anyone email me and explain why??

Alexx says:
November 26th, 2007 at 1:52 am

Gordon, Thats easy–if he sleeps with the girl, he looses his edge and gets slow. Then they are both dead. Then again, maybe the chase is the thing, and it gives him a harder edge to his nerves. the Dominant/ Submissive thing. Get it?

Gordon says:
November 27th, 2007 at 5:44 pm

maybe but still he is a guy damn is he gay or what why would any guy pass that up it makes no sense at all

CheeriosTM says:
November 29th, 2007 at 1:10 am

Ok, so, for starters i’ve actually seen the movie (and honestly skipped over the last half or so of comments on here). Now they did some things not-quite-right in the movie, such as the tie (which i noticed after i loaded up all 4 games). The tie thing, in all reality, is forgiveable. It’s a tie…the fact that it’s red is at least the right direction (not to mention at one point he buys a new suit so it could have been all they had. Secondly, they had him wear an overcoat in a couple scenes, which, is again forgiveable even though it made him look a little more lanky and change his ’shape’ so to speak. As far as the actor chosen, i too agreed prior to seeing it that Statham would have been perfect, and prior to seeing the movie, having only seen previews, i agreed that the guy they chose wasnt spot on. In the movie however, the only thing i really felt that was wrong with the actor himself was that his voice wasnt quite deep enough, it was a bit too high for being 47, but again, forgiveable.
Something to counter is that he does not fall for a girl, and they portrayed his particular role quite well in contrast to her. He protected her and stopped short of killing someone because of her, but it for me felt much more like the 47 from the “Hitman 2: Silent Assassin” where he’s having a moral debate and conflict within himself about what he is, what he does, and his place in it all - god, forgiveness, his soul if any, etc. He never truely falls for or goes back for the girl, although he does look out for her, much akin to the priest in Hitman 2. In the third game he’s having a trip from blood loss and the fourth game the storyline is much more like the movie itself as a whole - betrayal and what-not as well as cops investigating him. I think overall, they didnt puss out and make it a girlie movie like they could have, especially with the girl involved and as far as a character they portrayed 47 quite well, he’s not cold blooded or ruthless, he simply lacks emotional backing - he does however not with to harm those who have been wronged or abused, etc.
The action was awesome, the actor looked the part well enough (even though the face wasnt quite right, 47 is a little more aged looking, more gaunt in appearance) but overall the things that were wrong with the movie were very minor in comparison to how they COULD have made it.

I cant wait for the second installment.

Also, they did have all the important guns, including the w2000 and the silverballers (both with and without silencers >:)

ariel says:
December 26th, 2007 at 2:38 am

if u pass a barcode scanner over his barcode it will read that hes a can of spaghettios and that he cost like $2.50

Jonathan says:
December 28th, 2007 at 6:30 pm

I’ve not played all the hitman games, mainly bits of 2,3 and all of 4.. I was a bit worried when originally seeing pictures and the trailers prior to the films release, I also wondered how they’d go on turning a lot of violence into a film.
I went to see the film and it wasnt perfect, odd details like the tie (though it’s a pretty good match to on the game case for blood money)..
Thankfully they did include the WA2000 and silverballers, the blazer R93 is in the games too though.
I doubt vin diesel would have looked more 47 than olyphant and jason stratham doesnt have the height and has the wrong accent.. might have been a bit like getting bruce willis.
Overall he’s pretty “efficient”, I was pleasantly suprised by the story and will be buying the DVD when it becomes available.

Astrix says:
January 3rd, 2008 at 9:14 am

I think It was very graet movie,I liked it very much,this man is fit 2 play hitman cuz he has the tall also the way he moves,vin deisel is good but i dont think 4 this kind of movie cuz we knew vin deisel in action movies but he makes jokes also,and he have much muscels…….this man timothy olyphant is good i liked him he is serious……(and 4 the idiot Gordon who said why didn’t he sleep with girl)HE IS HITMAN,it mean killer just kill and bring people dead,he dont care about bitches…………any way i liked the movie it was amazing

Samer says:
January 3rd, 2008 at 4:59 pm

all the ones who didnt like the movie are such idiots!! timothy olyphant is a good actor… and if u play the game you will know that he is the very right choice for the movie… so FUCK all haters!!!

Jordan says:
January 29th, 2008 at 11:15 pm

wow…. what’s up with all of the silverballer crap. “silverballer” isn’t even a real gun. haha. they just couldn’t use the real title for a video game. It was created to represent the Hardballer made by AMT. i can tell you guys did your homework…..

katrina says:
February 21st, 2008 at 11:32 pm

You all that say he is unfit, that is rediculous. First of all he is the hottest man I have ever laid eyes on and second of all dont act like none of you would be a better actor than he is. I love this game and I sooooooooo think that he was perfect for the role. Teddy bear soft are you kidding me. Uh no he doesnt look teddy bear soft. He looks hard, shew to da** good in this movie. I cant wait until it comes out in March. So I can watch his sexy self kick a** in this movie.

HitmanLover says:
March 24th, 2008 at 12:35 pm

I don’t care what all of ya’ll dumbos say, Timothy Olyphant was and is the best of the best person for that role. Hitman i love you and Timothy Olyphant your so F*** Hotttt!!! I love You!!!

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