The video game franchise Hitman is getting a reboot of sorts, and the first footage from Hitman: Agent 47 was revealed at San Diego Comic-Con earlier this Friday.  Though star Rupert Friend was unable to attend due to the fact that he’s shooting Homeland in South Africa at the moment, but co-stars Zachary Quinto (who played John Smith) and Hannah Ware (who plays Katia) took the Hall H stage to reveal the first footage and discuss delving into the action genre.  Hit the jump to read my full Hitman: Agent 47 Comic-Con panel recap. 

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Image via 20th Century Fox

Panel Highlights

  • Quinto said the scale, scope, and style of the film is dynamic, but the relationships are integral.
  • The story is defined through Agent 47’s relationship with John Smith and Ware.
  • On making her first foray into the action genre, Ware said the technical aspect was far different from what she was used to.  Quinto “taught her the ropes”, and she enjoyed the challenge.
  • The film was shot in Berlin and Singapore, where it is actually set.  The cities didn’t double for more expensive shooting locations.
  • Quinto said he tends to respond to characters that have more going on than what meets the eye.
  • Quinto said the game is “a great launching off point”, but the film expands upon the story.  Smith is a peripheral character in the video game, but he’s much more front-and-center in the film.
  • On the types of roles that he chooses, Quinto said “I don’t think it’s possible to play a character unless you can find a way to love them”. He specifically talked about the difficulty of loving his character from American Horror Story, but once he looked back to the emotional dysfunction involved in the character’s upbringing, he found an “in”.
  • “This is probably the worst admission to make in Hall H, but I’m not a gamer,” Quinto on his familiarity with the game.
  • Ware said all of her guy friends were excited when they found out she’d be in the movie.  She tried to play the game once but wasn’t very good at it.
  • Quinto said he loved the elevated action aspect of Spock in Star Trek Into Darkness, saying Agent 47 has that element but in a more mainstream way.

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Image 20th Century Fox

Footage

We were shown the first trailer for the film, which also marked the first time that Quinto and Ware had seen footage from the pic.  My first impression was that it’s very sleek and clean; a lot of thin lines.  One particular striking scene showed Friend’s Agent 47 locked in handcuffs at a table in an interrogation room, the interrogator on the opposite side with a sniper rifle pointed directly at him.  When the interrogator says Agent 47 has nowhere to go and is locked in a room with him, 47 replies, “No, you’re locked in a room with me.”  He proceeds to flip the table up, fire the gun at his handcuffs, and take out the interrogator.

The effects were rather spotty and we really didn’t get to see much, but as someone who hasn’t played the game and wasn’t particularly looking forward to the film, I will say the footage looked better than I expected.  I quite like Friend on Homeland, and he appears to be a solid fit for the titular role.  If the action can deliver in a convincing way and if the movie doesn’t take things too seriously (the bullet scene was ridiculous), then maybe we could be in for a fun actioner.  We'll have the trailer up when it's made available.

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