Timothy Olyphant was playing a bit of the deception game with recent junket interviewers when he said he wasn’t officially attached to the feature film adaptation of the popular videogame Hitman, but to the contrary Variety has posted an article today saying that he has been cast in the lead role, Agent 47, in the Luc Besson-produced pic for 20th Century Fox and Xavier Gens has been named as director.
Word is that Fox sees franchise potential and Olyphant’s deal has been written up to include sequels. Vin Diesel was previously attached to the role but opted out to star in Fox’s Babylon A.D. a sci-fi feature being directed by Mathieu Kassovitz.
Production on Hitman is scheduled to begin in March in Europe using Skip Woods’ script based on the “Hitman” videogame franchise set in the world of Agent 47, a genetically engineered assassin. Other than that story details were not revealed.
Olyphant stars next in Sony’s Catch and Release and then follows that up as the baddie in Fox’s Die Hard 4.
