Eidos has confirmed that production has begun on the upcoming Hitman movie.

Production began on March 27th in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. The cast and crew will be there for 12 weeks before coninuing on to London, South Africa and St. Petersburg.

As SPOnG reported in December, Timothy Olyphant of Deadwood and Live Free or Die Hard fame stars as Agent 47. It looks like we can finally kiss goodbye to dreams of Jason Statham stepping up as the movie's lead.

Dougray Scott, the Scotsman from Mission Impossible II (and the oft-overlooked Ever After: A Cinderella Story), plays Agent 47's antagonist. Also on the cast are Olga Kurylenko (Paris je t’aime), Robert Knepper (Prison Break), Ulrich Thomsen (Festen) and Michael Offei (Casino Royale). Xavier Gens directs, while Luc Besson is amongst the producers.

The plot revolves around Agent 47 and his work for the mysterious 'Agency'. And... that's about all they're saying. SPOnG suspects they're forsaking a story in favour of two hours of pure, gratuitous stealthy shooting, which is fine by us. For more on Agent 47 check out SPOnG's Blood Money page.

Bad luck, Statham.