Luc Besson is the phenomenal director and writer behind Leon (named The Professional in America), The Fifth Element, TV series like La Femme Nikita, the Taxi movies and most recently Arthur and the Invisibles. He’s now been signed to produce a movie based on Agent 47, the assassin from the Hitman video games. Personally I feel this is the perfect chance for him to make a spiritual sequel to the hitman movie Leon with Jean Reno in the lead again. I can dream right? And yes I know Vin Diesel left and was replaced by Timothy Olyphant. Anyways…
VH1 asked Besson what involvement he had with the better than average platform game based on his latest movie Arthur and the Invisibles. Mr. Besson’s reply was surprising: “I don’t know anything about video games.” He left the game to the minds at Atari and had literally no input. In fact, much of today’s technology mystifies him. Admitting he was a happy Luddite, he said, “I don’t have a computer. I don’t even have an email account.”
Besson has signed up to produce (not direct) Hitman, the Eidos franchise featuring the bald Agent 47, in 2007. Besson explains: “My friends at Fox, they have the rights and they asked me to help them. I don’t know that much about the game yet.” What does he make of Agent 47? “I like his tie,” joked Besson.
He can joke all he want, but he knows the Hitman games are nothing to laugh at with the first three games in the franchise selling over 10 million units. And Eidos announced last year that between May and July 2006 the latest game in the series, Hitman: Blood Money, sold 1.5 million units. Via Evilavatar
Check out The Professional’s trailer below to see Hitman’s potential as an awesome game-movie.