Director James Gunn recently shared that he is happy that his proposed Hitman movie was never made. Although the director got his start with popular independent films such as Slither and Super, Gunn made a name for himself in the superhero world with the Marvel Cinematic Universe surprise smash hit, Guardians of the Galaxy. He followed that success with a direct sequel as well as another superhero team-up film, The Suicide Squad. However, Gunn nearly made a film adaptation of the popular video game franchise, Hitman, instead.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY
Beginning in 2000, the popular assassination-oriented Hitman video game series has thrived on various gaming platforms with much success. Over the years, Hollywood has attempted to adapt the franchise with two unsuccessful attempts. Once in 2007 with Hitman starring Timothy Olyphant as Agent 47, and another in 2015 with Hitman: Agent 47 with Rupert Friend in the titular role. Gunn previously revealed that he pitched his own take on the franchise, but the studio shot down his idea due to the fact that the director wanted it to be R-rated.
Gunn recently took to Twitter and explained why he is happy that his Hitman movie was never produced. In response to a question asking the filmmaker if there was any video game series he would like to tackle, Gunn shared that before he was hired on to do Guardians of the Galaxy, he pitched his Hitman film. The director is happy that he was eventually turned down by the studio because if he was not, then he would never have been able to take the MCU job. Check out Gunn's post below.
At the time, Gunn was not yet the Hollywood industry name that he is today, and likely struggled to find work on projects. With two popular independent films under his belt, he had a some notoriety but perhaps not to the level of some of the larger, more prominent directors of the time. Guardians of the Galaxy not only made him millions of dollars, more importantly, it made him a household name that propelled his career forward in a way that Hitman likely never could.
To obtain work in Hollywood, directors and writers that have yet to build enough of a name for themselves predominantly pitch their takes on a studio's idea or pitch an original idea to the studio. It is difficult and stressful work as nothing is guaranteed in the industry. However, once a filmmaker's project reaches to the level of success as Guardians of the Galaxy, praised by critics and fans as well as pulling in over $770 million at the box office, then Hollywood begins to pitch their ideas to the filmmakers. Gunn probably sought after the 2015 Hitman movie which subsequently received unfavorable reviews and a less-than-stellar box office return. The director likely dodged the proverbial bullet from a career-stalling mistake. However, if Gunn's R-rated take of the video game series brought any of the humor and wit featured in Guardians of the Galaxy, Super, and The Suicide Squad, then perhaps his version of Hitman would have propelled his career in an unseen but positive direction.