Gens Is Gone But HIT MAN's Rolling Out R After All

It's been a long and turbulent road writing about Fox's adaptation of the Hit Man video game franchise around here. We broke news back in early October that director Xavier Gens had been bumped from the film with the reins handed over to Nicholas De Toth - the same man Fox brought in to supervise the entirely bloodless reworking of Live Free Or Die Hard - news that Fox promptly denied, insisting that Gens was still the director. Then, yesterday, word came that star Timothy Olyphant had confirmed significant reshoots on the film - including at least a pair of action sequences - with someone other than Gens directing, confirming our earlier report. And today comes word that the final rating from the MPAA has come down on the film, and it is:

"R" rating for, "Strong bloody violence, language, and some sexuality/nudity."

So, at final tally: Gens out, De Toth in, film recut and reshot, still rated R.

** UPDATE **

Thanks to regular reader Mary who points out that the film has been rated 15 in the UK, which means this is a very soft R.