A bulked-up Timothy Olyphant (HBO’s Deadwood) brings assassin Agent 47 to life—and a triple-digit number of victims to death—in this fast-moving actioner based on the Eidos first-person shooter videogame. Basically a series of superbly rendered “target rich” set pieces, Hitman shows 47 duped into killing the wrong Russian president’s double then chased by the Russian secret police Interpol, the CIA and his own tribe of nameless killers. Game over?

Shelf Talk: Fox has already started using its many highly visible multi-media outlets to put Olyphant’s chrome dome in front of millions of eyeballs, and the onslaught will continue as street date nears. Rest assured, hardly any gamers or action fans ages 18 to 34 will be missed in a campaign that includes national and cable TV, Internet, print and grassroots marketing. Many of those tech-savvy consumers will be thrilled that Fox’s unrated special edition DVD and Blu-ray versions contain a digital copy of the movie, which can be downloaded onto a computer, iPod or portable media device. Market Olyphant, whose recognition factor rose with Live Free or Die Hard, and Dougray Scott (playing against type as an earnest detective) as well as new Bond girl Olga Kurylenko, who will raise eyebrows this fall in the latest Bond adventure, Quantum of Solace. Assassin movies have legs, and the recent success of Clive Owen’s Shoot ’Em Up in the home market shows there’s an eager audience for audacious bullet ballets with high body counts. And don’t forget to remind avid gamers of the Hitman’s origin.