A full-length adaptation of the original Kane & Lynch game from 2007, created by Hitman developer IO Interactive, spent years in Hollywood development limbo with multiple A-list actors circling the project.
This week on social media, Nobody 2 director Timo Tjahjanto disclosed his involvement in drafting a conceptual outline for a Kane & Lynch film starring David Harbour - best known as Stranger Things' Jim Hopper and the Red Guardian in Marvel's Thunderbolts*/New Avengers.
"Never saw a final screenplay, but years ago when this property had heat, I developed a treatment envisioning James Badge Dale and David Harbour in the leads," Tjahjanto shared. "Unfortunately, it never materialized."
Tjahjanto joins a long list of filmmakers whose ideas never progressed beyond early development stages. His treatment document - typically used to pitch film concepts before full scripts are commissioned - represents just one of many abandoned attempts.
Earlier iterations of the project had attached Bruce Willis and Jamie Foxx, though both actors exited during extensive script rewrites. Later reports suggested Gerard Butler and Vin Diesel were considered for the titular roles before that version also stalled.
The franchise ultimately lost momentum following the middling reception to 2010's Kane & Lynch: Dog Days sequel, prompting IO Interactive to refocus exclusively on their Hitman series.
