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"No women, no kids, that's the rules."
In a civil society, there are few professions more reprehensible than that of hitman, cleaner, assassin, a job that, by definition, requires the death of another human being to exist at all. In real life, you wouldn't want to meet a hitman, let alone get to know one, but Hollywood hitmen are often far more interesting, engaging, relatable and...handsome, like Brad Pitt in his new movie, Killing Them Softly. Of course, it wouldn't be fair to dismiss Pitt's second go-round — the first being John Smith in Mr. & Mrs. Smith — as a contender for the movie hitmen hall of fame based solely on his looks, so we'll reserve judgment until Killing Them Softly debuts on Friday. In the meantime, help us determine what sort of competition Pitt's Jackie Cogan is up against by ranking the best movie hitmen of all time.
Rate the Top 10 Best Movie Hitmen >>
killer entertainment newsWeeknights after the movies
Posted 11.26.12 by BrentJS -
Which Movies Were Game Changers?
Hollywood has been mining literature for source material for years, often with excellent results — 11 literary adaptations were nominated for Academy Awards in 2012 alone — and comic books have inspired several of the most popular and successful movies in recent years. Video games, on the other hand, have proven to be difficult to successfully translate to film. Gamers are often more interested in a game's graphics or the ability to earn achievements than in its plot, so there is often little for the screenwriters to draw upon. As Corey May, co-founder of Sekretagent Productions explained to CNN, "It often comes down to money, as movie studios frequently choose to make films based on the franchises that sell the best, not those with the most cinematic potential."
Still, the success of the Resident Evil franchise — $893 million worldwide and counting— and the prospect of enticing the hundreds of millions of gamers around the world to turn out to see a movie based upon their favorite game keeps Hollywood going back to the video game well for more. Only days ago, it was announced that Ubisoft and New Regency's Assassin's Creed adaptation is moving forward with Michael Fassbender headlining, and there are dozens of other adaptations currently in development, which should be great news for movie fans and video game fans alike. Have there been some turkeys? Absolutely. More than a few, but, despite what CNN's video game expert may think, movies based on video games don't all "stink". In fact, some of them are downright badass. Help us select the video game movies that defied expectations by entertaining us instead of making us groan.
Rate the Top 10 Best Video Game Movie Adaptations >>
Posted 10.26.12 by BrentJS -
Though it came and went without making many waves, Hitman, the 2007 adaptation of the popular video game series, may be coming back for another round of box-office mayhem. The original movie, directed by Xavier Gens from a script by Skip Woods, earned $100 million on a $30-million budget, which may be the impetus for revisiting the property.
According to a recent article in Variety, Twentieth Century Fox has hired screenwriter Kyle Ward to pen a new script, using story elements from the upcoming Hitman 5 game from Eidos, due out in 2010.
There's no word on whether actor Timothy Olyphant would be willing to reprise his role as Agent 47, the world's greatest assassin, in a Hitman sequel.
Posted 06.26.09 by BrentJS -
While most of America is preoccupied with Obama vs. McCain, we at Reelz.com are focused on far more important battles, like Mario vs. Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog vs. the Prince of Persia.
What would happen if the lead characters in some of the best-known video game-based flicks faced each other in a no-holds-barred battle royale? Check out our Ultimate Video Game Movie Character Faceoff to find out.
Posted 10.17.08 by reelz -
On Pay-Per-View, Timothy Olyphant plays a hitman with a heart of gold in the video game adaptation Hitman.
On HBO, Ryan Gosling tries to prevent Sir Anthony Hopkins from getting away with murder in the courtroom thriller Fracture.
On Starz, penguins take to the waves in the animated adventure comedy Surf's Up.
On Cinemax, Lindsay Lohan butts heads with her stern grandmother in the romantic dramedy Georgia Rule.
And on DVD, Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis plays an oilman corrupted by power in Paul Thomas Anderson's epic There Will Be Blood.
Posted 04.12.08 by reelz -
Best Picture Oscar winner No Country for Old Men leads his week's bumper crop of new DVD releases. Also debuting are Steve Carell's relationship dramedy Dan in Real Life, Jerry Seinfeld's animated hit Bee Movie, Freddie Highmore's inspirational August Rush and the tween-friendly mystery Nancy Drew.
Our pick for the week is the videogame adaptation Hitman (available in both standard and extra-bloody unrated editions), not because it's an especially good movie, but because it provides a phenomenal sneak peak of smokin' hot Quantum of Solace Bond girl Olga Kurylenko.
Posted 03.11.08 by reelz -
Where better to celebrate Turkey Day than at the Cineplex? Hollywood has plenty of new releases to help you commemorate the occasion.
A rundown of our reviews of this weekend's new releases:
Enchanted 
"A charming, clever riff on Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and other princess-in-peril flicks from Walt's golden age." [Full Review]
The Mist 
"A flawed but entertaining monster movie." [Full Review]
Hitman 
"Manages to piece together some impressive action set pieces, but it's not enough to compensate for the pain caused whenever the characters open their mouths." [Full Review]
August Rush
"A sappy, cheesy, saccharine mess with cringe-worthy dialogue, a ridiculous premise, and creepy characters." [Full Review]
I'm Not There 
"An acquired taste...inventive, different and highly experimental." [Full Review]
Also opening: This Christmas, Starting Out in the Evening, Nina's Heavenly Delights.
Posted 11.21.07 by reelz -
That's what Twitchfilm.net reported earlier this week relating to widespread net rumors that director Xavier Gens had been stripped of control on the video game adaptation. Reportedly, Fox brought in Nicolas De Toth to tone down the film, possibly even from hard "R" to "PG-13" territory. De Toth previously edited the bloodless version of Live Free or Die Hard.
In an official statement of reponse from Fox, the studio claims De Toth has been brought in as a consultant rather than as an editor and that the film will go out with an "R"-rating and Gens is still involved. We'll see. De Toth's involvement certainly seems contradictory to Fox's claim.
We'll bring you more on Hitman as we hear it.
Posted 10.14.07 by reelz -
Twentieth Century Fox has abruptly cancelled its appearance at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, less than a week before the opening of the annual gathering of fanboys from across the world, The Los Angeles Times reports.
The official explanation from studio, which had planned to unveil footage from a variety of upcoming films, including Alien vs. Predator 2, Jumper, Hitman, The Dark is Rising, Babylon A.D. and City of Ember, is that "the clips simply weren't ready." What an odd coincidence, that ALL of the above films would hit such a snag at the same time. Either Fox has some really flaky editors working at its Century City headquarters, or something else is afoot.
Conspiracy theories abound. One of which, courtesy of CHUD, posits that relations between Fox and the Comic-Con folks have been prickly since last year's event, when the studio unspooled some R-rated clips from Borat, violating the convention's strict moratorium on displaying naughty footage. Unable to repair the strained relationship in time for this year’s event, Fox decided to pull the plug rather than risk further controversy.
Fox is supposedly planning some sort of "surprise" for Comic-Con attendees. We'll keep you posted as developments arise.
Posted 07.19.07 by reelz