First Look at Rupert Friend as Agent 47

Last time we spoke about the upcoming film adaptation based on the Hitman franchise, what it has been before, and what it is going to be in many possible ways. Now, with the new film simply titled Agent 47 rather than Hitman, named after the lead character of the series, the shooting has already begun with a first look of Rupert Friend dressed as the titular protagonist has been surfaced online through IGN.

His head, in my opinion, isn't shaved enough. And 47 never had any piece of a hair on his head aside from the eyebrows which were brown. So, I have the feel that there is a change in the character's concept from what I recognize. Originally, Agent 47 was a clone of five DNA's of the world's most criminal masterminds. He was the only experiment done by Dr. Otto Ort-Meyer, who lived long enough and survived. However, in the first film adaptation, they merely borrowed anything from the original concepts, and showed 47 to be actually adopted by a league of assassins rather than being cloned, and was trained along with his "brothers" to become the killer he is, nowadays. In the video games, aside from 47, dozens of Mr. 48's existed, who weren't smart enough to escape the clutches of our most deadly assassin. Meanwhile, in the film, other agents existed who have been targeting 47 for the mission he was going after.

First look at Rupert Friend as Agent 47.

Rupert Friend, however, somehow does suit the role, and reminds me of how Agent 47 actually looked like in the first couple of games. Well, I just hope he acts like it, too. Alongside Friend, Zachary Quinto and Hannah Ware co-star in the film, as well. Directed by a first-time feature length helmer, Aleksander Bach, who was used to be handling commercials previously, and the script is penned by Skip Woods and Michael Finch. No release date has been given as of yet, but we expect the film to be coming out sometime in 2015. And in case you were wondering, IO Interactive who were responsible for creating the Hitman franchise are working on another game, which is listed to be in development, rumoured to be called Hitman: Profession, but nothing is clearly revealed about the project yet.

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'Agent 47' is back on aboard!

We all know that motion pictures based on video game franchises often result in utter failure, take the most popular First-Person Shooter title Doom, for instance, which spawned a very awful film adaptation that never made sense in the first place, or Max Payne, being extremely godawful, recruiting an emotionally unstable character instead of a arse-kicking hard-boiled detective out to settle the score. Among those awful adaptations was the 2007 film Hitman, based on the video game franchise of the same name, which did bear only a very little resemblance, but with accurate places at some points.

It starred Timothy Oliphant, the star of Deadwood and Justified television series, as the main protagonist, the nameless Agent 47. Fans have known and wanted the man who made the role iconic, David Bateson, whom the character was based on, as well, to appear in character, headlining the title. But, sadly, it did not happen, and he went to do another film in closer manner and truer to the Hitman concept called Aurum, where he plays Mark Boland, a character who's Agent 47 in all but the name. The games were known to be incredibly stealthy and slow-paced, with the option of going out of cover and pulling the trigger aggressively yet calmly. On the other hand, the film contained sequences shot in slow-motion aspect, going with the over-the-top action material inspired by the Matrix elements.

A comparison between Timothy Oliphant's Agent 47 and the video game version based upon David Bateson.

Despite its mixed-to-negative reviews but being a success financially, a sequel was planned with IESB confirming that 20th Century Fox has hired writer Kyle Ward to pen the script. It was reported that the late American actor, David Hess, who died in October 2011, was picked for a yet-unnamed role. Daniel Benmayor was said to be directing the sequel, with Timothy Oliphant still in talks to reprise his own role. However, Oliphant would later state that he had no interest in returning, and only did the first one to pay the bills for his new house following the cancellation of Deadwood, the television series that aired for only two years. Afterwards, the project was fallen apart in 2012.

A promotional image from the latest release in the video game series, 'Hitman: Absolution'.

In February 2013, it was reported that the next entry in this film franchise will have a brand new storyline ignoring the first film and its timeline. A total reboot they might say, but it never was a long-lasting series to call it a 'reboot', nor a 'remake' because it had nothing to do with the plot written for the latter. And now, the title was renamed to Agent 47, which is the name of the protagonist. It was also reported that the late Paul Walker would star as the titular character, with plans to start shooting the film were arranged in Summer 2013, but had to be postponed due to Walker being on other commitments such as Fast & Furious 7, which he didn't complete filming due to his chaotic and accidental demise.

The late Paul Walker.

Earlier this year, in January, it was announced that Rupert Friend will take over the role of Agent 47, with commercials director Aleksander Bach making his feature film debut helming the project. The screenplay was written by Skip Woods (A Good Day To Die Hard) and Michael Finch (November Man). More recently, two people were cast, with Zachary Quinto being in a yet-unknown role, and Hannah Ware is said to be playing the leading lady. It's rumoured that the locations were scouted in Berlin and Singapore, but the plot details are not revealed, as of yet. Let's see what are they going to do with Hitman this time. Will they change 47's background like they did in the first film? or will they adapt a truer thriller based on the video game series?

Rupert Friend is cast as Agent 47, and Hannah Ware will be playing the leading lady.

'Hitman: Absolution' artwork featuring the dreadful Agent 47.

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'Transporter 4': Meet The New Frank Martin

Back in October 2013, we've talked about the plans being made to produce Transporter 4, along with many speculations we were suggesting on many cases, whether Jason Statham was coming back or not, and who was going to take on the role next. Reportedly, Jason Statham isn't coming back for Transporter 4, but recently Variety reported that he's going to be replaced by Game of Thornes actor, Ed Skrein.

Ed Skrein is a British actor and apparently a musician, who has recently become interested in acting, having in appeared in films such as Piggy, and most notably the British crime drama Ill Manors written and directed by a fellow artist Ben Drew, also knows as Plan B, whom Skrein worked with in his musical career, as well. Then, he came to appear in the third season of Game of Thornes, and currently performing his duties as a recurring character in the British/French television series known as The Tunnel.

Ed Skrein is the next Frank Martin.

Skrein will be the third actor to have portrayed Frank Martin, with the first one being Jason Statham in the first three films, and Chris Vance succeeding him in the television series, which is in talks for renewal, and now, Skrein will be joining these hard men as the next Frank Martin. “We searched everywhere to find a fresh face who had the potential to become an action movie star and we’ve found the right match with Ed Skrein, who’s not only a great actor but also has enough charisma and physical stamina to play Frank Martin with brio,” EuropaCorp (the production company behind the franchise) CEO Christophe Lambert tells the publication.

 

The previous two incarnations of Frank Martin; Jason Statham on the left, and Chris Vance on the right.

The plot details, however, are kept quiet, but Lambert says, the first entry in this rebooted series will have the crew returned to the French Riviera, the site of the original film back in 2002, and give more depth to the main character, including his exploration of the relationship with his father, a role promised to be filled by a prominent actor. It's previously said that Transporter 4 was going to take place in China, so that is another clue we have collected before. What we don't know is that whether the film is going to be called Transporter 4 or just have an original title or a sub-title attached to the eponymous franchise name itself.

Well, that is all we have for now. Thank you for reading, and feel free to express yourself below.