John Smith (Hitman)

Hitman is a 2007 action-thriller film directed by Xavier Gens from a screenplay by Skip Woods. Produced by Luc Besson, it is based on the video game series of the same name. The film stars Timothy Olyphant as Agent 47, a professional hitman engineered to be an assassin by the Organization. He becomes ensnared in a political conspiracy and finds himself pursued by both Interpol and the FSB. Dougray Scott and Olga Kurylenko star in supporting roles.

An international co-production between France, the United States and the United Kingdom, Hitman was released by 20th Century Fox in the US on November 21, 2007, followed by the UK on November 30 and France on December 26. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics, who criticized its convoluted plot but praised Olyphant's performance. Despite this, the film was a box office success, grossing $101.3 million against a $24 million budget. A sequel was canceled during the film's production due to its mostly negative reception, but the film was eventually followed by the reboot Hitman: Agent 47 in 2015.

Inside a heavily guarded facility, a group of young boys are given tattoos of bar codes on the backs of their shaved heads and are then trained in weapons, demolitions, unarmed combat, stamina, and strength to become professionally trained hitmen who operate around the globe. In the present day, Interpol agent Mike Whittier arrives home and is met at gunpoint by Agent 47. The two talk about 47's life as a professional hitman, raised and trained by a clandestine group known simply as the Organization.

Three months prior to that, 47 is completing a hit on a Niger warlord named Bwana Ovie. In a subsequent change of plans, 47 is told by his Organization handler, Diana Burnwood, that he is to kill his next target, Russian president Mikhail Belicoff, publicly instead of privately. Agent 47 completes his mission by shooting the man in the head, but before he can leave Russia, he is contacted by his superiors. He is mystified when told the hit was a failure and that Belicoff survived the attack on his life. The Organization notifies him of a witness to the assassination and orders him to intercept and kill her. However, when 47 realizes she has never seen him before, he does not shoot her; instead, he narrowly avoids an assassination attempt on himself by another agent and realizes he is being set up.