Spanish Director Daniel Benmayor Might Helm HITMAN 2; Will Timothy Olyphant Return?

Spanish helmer Daniel Benmayor is in talks to direct Hitman 2 for 20th Century Fox.  While not a choice many would have guessed, Benmayor made a name for himself directing commercials for Renault, Mercedes, Heineken, Samsung and Sony PlayStation.  He recently made his feature debut on a Spanish movie called Paintball which is about a group of adrenaline junkies who get dropped in a forest for a paintball match but quickly discover someone is using real ammo.

While the first Hitman didn’t get rave reviews, the $30 million budgeted film made over $100 million worldwide.  It’s no surprise Fox wants a sequel.  The big issue for the studio is whether or not Timothy Olyphant will return as Agent 47.  That’s because the actor would have to shave his head and he might not want to, as he’s currently riding a wave of great reviews for his work on the FX series Justified.  More after the jump:

According to Deadline, Fox holds an option on Olyphant – meaning they could force him to return for the sequel.  But even though they could make him return, it’s bad for both sides to make an actor or anyone work on something they don’t want to, as it means the bridge will be burned for anything else in the future.

While I think Olyphant is a fantastic actor, if he decides not to make another Hitman film, I’m sure Fox will still love ahead with the sequel.  Adrian Askarieh, Alex Young and Chuck Gordon are producing Hitman 2 and Daniel Alter is exec producer.

To watch some of Daniel Benmayor commericals, click here.

And here’s the trailer for Paintball

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