Hitman: Vengeance (2014 -)
Hitman: Vengeance was an ambitious fan-film series I started in the early days of Mass Distortion Productions, written as a continuation of the 2007 Hitman film starring Timothy Olyphant and Olga Kurylenko.
The story picks up after that film and imagines what happened next to Agent 47 and Nika. The original plan was for six episodes, with their developing relationship shown partly through flashbacks, while the main story followed 47 hunting down the people responsible for Nika’s death.
In reality, we completed the pilot and Episode 2 before the scale of what I was trying to make collided rather firmly with the fact that we had no budget to speak of, just goodwill from those involved.
The story picks up after that film and imagines what happened next to Agent 47 and Nika. The original plan was for six episodes, with their developing relationship shown partly through flashbacks, while the main story followed 47 hunting down the people responsible for Nika’s death.
In reality, we completed the pilot and Episode 2 before the scale of what I was trying to make collided rather firmly with the fact that we had no budget to speak of, just goodwill from those involved.
Pilot Episode (Director's Cut)
The pilot recreates the closing moments of the 2007 film before moving into our own continuation of the story.
The full Director’s Cut is age-restricted on YouTube because of the violence and stronger content, so you may need to open it directly on YouTube to watch.
The full Director’s Cut is age-restricted on YouTube because of the violence and stronger content, so you may need to open it directly on YouTube to watch.
Pilot Episode (PG-13 Cut)
I also made a toned-down PG-13 cut with much of the gore removed, which you can watch here.
Episode 2
Episode 2 follows 47 as he starts tracing the people behind Nika’s murder. His search takes him to Bongo, a well-connected dope-smoking contact, and from there to Alina, a Romanian matriarch with her own rather brutal methods of getting information.
This one pushes the violence considerably further than the pilot, including a fairly unpleasant torture sequence that we definitely got a bit carried away with at the time. It’s age-restricted on YouTube for very good reasons.
By the end, 47 has a name and the next step in his search for vengeance.
This one pushes the violence considerably further than the pilot, including a fairly unpleasant torture sequence that we definitely got a bit carried away with at the time. It’s age-restricted on YouTube for very good reasons.
By the end, 47 has a name and the next step in his search for vengeance.
About the project
I was a big fan of the 2007 Hitman film and wanted Vengeance to feel like a genuine continuation, not just a random fan film borrowing Agent 47. I tried to carry details across from the original film, from Nika’s vineyard paperwork and tattoo to the dry humour and awkwardness between her and 47.
I also spent far too much time thinking about Agent 47 as a character. I played the games, read the books, dug through the available background material and tried to build a version of him that felt consistent across the different interpretations. The idea was that his relationship with Nika had affected him in a way he didn’t really understand, and that her death would push him back into the cold, methodical killer he knew how to be.
The original plan was six episodes, with the present-day revenge story running alongside flashbacks showing what had happened between 47 and Nika after the end of the film. We had ideas for locations, action sequences and all sorts of things that made perfect sense in my head.
Like a lot of new filmmakers, though, my ambitions were wildly beyond the budget. At one point I had a major shootout planned in a shopping mall.
Yeah. Like, that was ever going to happen with no money.
What we did have was a lot of goodwill, people giving up their time, borrowed locations, favours, cheap practical effects and a willingness to try things anyway. Looking back, that was probably one of the biggest lessons of the whole project: having the idea is the easy bit. Actually sustaining something that ambitious over multiple episodes is another matter entirely.
I also spent far too much time thinking about Agent 47 as a character. I played the games, read the books, dug through the available background material and tried to build a version of him that felt consistent across the different interpretations. The idea was that his relationship with Nika had affected him in a way he didn’t really understand, and that her death would push him back into the cold, methodical killer he knew how to be.
The original plan was six episodes, with the present-day revenge story running alongside flashbacks showing what had happened between 47 and Nika after the end of the film. We had ideas for locations, action sequences and all sorts of things that made perfect sense in my head.
Like a lot of new filmmakers, though, my ambitions were wildly beyond the budget. At one point I had a major shootout planned in a shopping mall.
Yeah. Like, that was ever going to happen with no money.
What we did have was a lot of goodwill, people giving up their time, borrowed locations, favours, cheap practical effects and a willingness to try things anyway. Looking back, that was probably one of the biggest lessons of the whole project: having the idea is the easy bit. Actually sustaining something that ambitious over multiple episodes is another matter entirely.
Where it was going
The six-part story would follow 47 as he worked his way up the chain and discovered who had ordered the hit on Nika, while flashbacks gradually filled in what happened between them after the end of the 2007 film.
We had already shot material intended for later episodes, and I still have footage, scene fragments and other bits from the project tucked away on old drives. There are probably things in there I’ve completely forgotten about by now.
It’s extremely unlikely that I’ll ever finish the remaining episodes in the way I originally planned. Too much time has passed, everyone has moved on, and recreating the production now would make very little sense.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the story is completely dead, though. At some point I may put together a retrospective or documentary-style piece using the surviving footage, scripts and whatever else I can dig out, and explain where Hitman: Vengeance was supposed to go.
If I do put together a retrospective or documentary-style piece, it would most likely be sometime in 2027 or 2028. Nothing is scheduled at the moment, but if it does move forward, the first announcement will probably be on the original Hitman: Vengeance Facebook page.
We had already shot material intended for later episodes, and I still have footage, scene fragments and other bits from the project tucked away on old drives. There are probably things in there I’ve completely forgotten about by now.
It’s extremely unlikely that I’ll ever finish the remaining episodes in the way I originally planned. Too much time has passed, everyone has moved on, and recreating the production now would make very little sense.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the story is completely dead, though. At some point I may put together a retrospective or documentary-style piece using the surviving footage, scripts and whatever else I can dig out, and explain where Hitman: Vengeance was supposed to go.
If I do put together a retrospective or documentary-style piece, it would most likely be sometime in 2027 or 2028. Nothing is scheduled at the moment, but if it does move forward, the first announcement will probably be on the original Hitman: Vengeance Facebook page.
“Nowhere To Go” Music Video
Darren Fletcher wrote the theme for Hitman: Vengeance, with vocals by Matthew Whalley. In return, I made a music video for the track.
The basic setup was a live performance in an upstairs pub room, with Darren and Matthew playing to a small audience. Agent 47 turns up, quietly removes the barman, takes his place, and then works his way through the audience using a variety of suitably Hitman-style methods.
The loose spark for the idea came from remembering the Guns N’ Roses video with Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator. I didn’t copy it or rewatch it beforehand, but the image of a deadly character entering a bar and scanning the room stuck with me and helped trigger the idea.
By the end, 47 is the only audience member left. He gives the performance a polite clap, tells them, “Very good, but I did ask for something with bollocks,” and shoots the pair of them as well.
Then Martin Weston’s barman reappears, takes in the carnage and, instead of the intended profanity, comes out with: “Oh, crab apples.”
Which is still one of my favourite accidental lines from the whole project.
The basic setup was a live performance in an upstairs pub room, with Darren and Matthew playing to a small audience. Agent 47 turns up, quietly removes the barman, takes his place, and then works his way through the audience using a variety of suitably Hitman-style methods.
The loose spark for the idea came from remembering the Guns N’ Roses video with Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator. I didn’t copy it or rewatch it beforehand, but the image of a deadly character entering a bar and scanning the room stuck with me and helped trigger the idea.
By the end, 47 is the only audience member left. He gives the performance a polite clap, tells them, “Very good, but I did ask for something with bollocks,” and shoots the pair of them as well.
Then Martin Weston’s barman reappears, takes in the carnage and, instead of the intended profanity, comes out with: “Oh, crab apples.”
Which is still one of my favourite accidental lines from the whole project.
What I Learned
Looking back, Hitman: Vengeance sits right at the start of me learning how much work it takes to make something ambitious happen. I had only recently started acting classes, and most of the cast came from there, so we were all learning in one way or another while trying to make this much bigger story work.
It taught me a lot about organising people, locations, practical effects, continuity, shooting around limited resources and, perhaps most importantly, the difference between what you can imagine and what you can realistically sustain with no real budget.
I also look back at my own performance as 47 differently now. I can see small facial movements and choices I’d play with much more restraint today. I always felt slightly aggrieved that I never got to put the suit on again, because I know I could have brought more to the character with the acting experience I gained later.
For all its rough edges and over-ambition, though, I’m still glad we made it. It was one of those projects where we learned by doing, occasionally by doing things that were probably far more complicated than they had any right to be.
It taught me a lot about organising people, locations, practical effects, continuity, shooting around limited resources and, perhaps most importantly, the difference between what you can imagine and what you can realistically sustain with no real budget.
I also look back at my own performance as 47 differently now. I can see small facial movements and choices I’d play with much more restraint today. I always felt slightly aggrieved that I never got to put the suit on again, because I know I could have brought more to the character with the acting experience I gained later.
For all its rough edges and over-ambition, though, I’m still glad we made it. It was one of those projects where we learned by doing, occasionally by doing things that were probably far more complicated than they had any right to be.