MOVIE NEWS – Hulu hasn’t provided information about the Hitman TV series in years. However, recent trademark announcements confirm that production is well underway.

Twentieth Century Fox has filed three new trademarks apparently related to Hitman. They suggest that the long-awaited TV series may finally see the light of day. The franchise, owned by IO Interactive, is still at its peak. Disney, the parent company of Twentieth Century, seems to think so too.

The trademarks (which can be viewed on the US Patent and Trademark Office website, see link below) are HITMAN: CODENAME 47, HITMAN: DEATH AWAITS and HITMAN: ABSOLUTION.

They all fall under the “entertainment services in the nature of a television and multimedia program.” category. Only one programme has been announced to the public so far. Thus, it is unclear which of the three titles refers to the TV series and which may refer to other subjects. It is also possible that Twentieth Century Fox wanted to be sure that no one else was marketing anything related to the brand name.

Interestingly, all of these names have been mentioned before. Codename 47 was the first full title of the game when it was released in 2000. And Absolution is the nickname of the most shared entry in the entire franchise. There has never been a video game strictly titled Hitman: Death Awaits, but Death Awaits itself was the promotional slogan for the third instalment’s 2021 release.

Unlike most of the games in the series, Absolution’s linear story structure makes it perhaps easier to base a season-long TV series on it than other Hitman titles.

But long-time fans of the IP will prefer the open-ended, open-world structure of the current trilogy. Absolution “streamlined” many of the systems that past Hitman players would have expected. It might make more sense to build on less divisive titles.

Is it Hitman: Death Awaits or Codename 47?

Codename 47 and Death Awaits are both more likely to be titles for the Hitman TV series. Death Awaits has the air of something more episodic. Here, Agent 47 travels to a new Bond movie-like location each episode and takes out a different target. Codename 47, on the other hand, evokes an origin story that follows 47 himself more closely and is peppered with flashbacks to the training and cloning facilities. Both could work in spades.

The previous two films – 2007’s Hitman and 2015’s Hitman: Agent 47 – didn’t quite hit the mark in adapting the tone and atmosphere of the video game to the big screen, and it was probably a wise decision not to make a third film.

Codename 47 was a great subtitle for the original game, but given that Agent 47 already exists as a movie title, it seems a bit too much of a repeat. Hitman: Death Awaits is much more original and unique and may be the best choice for many.

Source: Uspto.gov