Hitman movie is Restricted though you'd never know it

OK, I have to say that it is merely coincidence that the entries for the last 3 days have to do with 20th Century Fox properties in one way or another, but that's how it has come down the pike, and in a strange twisted way, this is going to come full circle.

Back in July, I wrote an article about how Hitman had a shot at being one of the first video game movies that was actually, you know, good. It wasn't a huge chance, but there was still that possibility.

But last month, after principal photography was completed, there was a rumor that Fox had taken the movie away from director Xavier Gens and given the editing duties to Nicolas De Toth, the man who edited Live Free or Die Hard from its original R-rated roots down to a PG-13 so that Hitman would also be cut as a PG-13 movie.

But Fox denied that this was true and that they were fully committed to a bloody, R-rated version of Hitman, and that the director was still involved in the editing process with De Toth and in recent days, those statements has indeed proved to be true as more than one gaming site has confirmed that the movie is going to be Restricted.

However, I've been seeing commercials for the movie on television, and I just found it rather unusual that at the end of the ads, there was no mention of the rating even though it comes out next Wednesday. To me, it seemed like the studio was trying to have its cake and eat it too... like they are trying to hype the movie while at the same time, avoid getting getting a beating in the press from people like Jack Thompson. I think that may be the reason why that rumor got started. I mean, it seems like a perfect pump fake to get the anti-gaming groups off the studios back.

If that was the case, it was a nice end-around. If it wasn't, then I can think of no explanation for the tactic.

Tags: hitman, movie, fox, die hard, live free, gaming, restricted