Movie adaptations of video games have a long, checkered past marred by half-hearted efforts and filmmakers’ lack of understanding of the source medium. Occasionally, however, the right person comes along and breathes life into what otherwise would have been an ill-conceived cash grab.

That might have been the case with “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” director James Gunn, who, according to a post on Twitter, once pitched a movie adaptation of the “Hitman” game series, but was turned down because he wanted the film to sport an R-rating.

I tried to make a Hitman movie a few years ago. But the producers at the time didn’t want to make it R rated, so they passed. https://t.co/BAToI5lfaQ

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) February 21, 2017

The irony of Gunn’s tweet is that he pitched the film before the most recent “Hitman” movie adaptation, “Hitman: Agent 47,” directed by Aleksander Bach, hit theaters in 2015. Bach’s film, much like Xavier Gens’ prior outing in 2007, carried an R-rating. There's no telling why Gunn's version of "Hitman" was turned down when 20th Century Fox was already going down the adult rating road, but it's safe to say the director came away from the deal just fine, instead helming the critically acclaimed "Guardians of the Galaxy" in 2014.

RELATED: James Gunn Cut a Major Character from Guardians of the Galaxy 2

The “Hitman” video game series is a semi-open world assassination game developed by IO Interactive in which the player controls a mysterious killer named Agent 47. Through guile, subterfuge and several dozens of costume changes, Agent 47 traverses large levels to assassinate a designated target.

The most recent entry into the video game series was 2016’s “Hitman,” an episodic game that saw new, exotic locales added throughout the year on a semi-monthly basis. “Hitman,” developed by IO Interactive and published by Square Enix, is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and the Linux operating system.

(via wegotthiscovered.com)