Hitman getting another shot at the big screen - Report

Despite being critically lambasted, the 2007 big-screen gaming adaptation Hitman racked up roughly $100 million in worldwide ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. That kind of payday could pull almost any assassin out of retirement, and Agent 47 is apparently no exception.

Film site IESB.net reports this week that 20th Century Fox has hired Kyle Ward to write a script for a Hitman sequel. Ward's resume is slim, with his most notable works being the screenplay for this year's Fiasco Heights (also about an assassin) and the script for Kane & Lynch, an adaptation of Eidos' 2007 shooter about a pair of mercenaries. Three of the producers from the original Hitman--Adrian Askarieh, Daniel Alter, and Chuck Gordon--will return for the sequel.

There was no mention as to whether Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood, Live Free or Die Hard) will return as Agent 47, or if Xavier Gens (Frontier(s)) would once again direct. However, the IESB article did offer a potential peek into the future plans of the Hitman game series.

"We are told to expect Hitman 5 by the end of 2010 and that it will take Agent 47 in a whole new direction," said the report. IESB did not say where it obtained its information.

The last Hitman game--Hitman: Blood Money--was released in 2006 for the Xbox 360, Xbox, PlayStation 2, and PC. Eidos has referenced development of a new Hitman game as far back as September of 2007, but has yet to provide a release window for the title.

In April, Eidos was acquired by Square Enix. While the Japanese role-playing game publisher listed Hitman as one of the world's leading game franchises when it originally announced its bid to purchase Eidos, it has not talked specifically about the next installment in the series since the acquisition closed.