Paul Walker was previously attached to play the lead role in this film before his sudden death in late November 2013.
The pose Agent 47 makes while exiting an elevator early in the film by facing forward and crossing his arm over his chest while holding his pistol is reminiscent of signature promotional images used throughout the Hitman video game franchise but the "blood on the sleeve" is from a cover of Hitman: Absolution.
There is a direct reference to the video game franchise made in one brief scene where a yellow rubber duck is seen floating in a bathtub along with a partially submerged toaster.
In the month's prior to the movie's release, 20th Century Fox and IGN Entertainment launched a social media campaign in order to find Hitman Agents 1 through 46. Contest entries, which were mostly comprised Agent 47 cosplay photos, were judged by a panel and winners were officially given numeric designations in the Hitman canon.
Seen in the trailer is Agent 47 wearing the uniform of a dispatched police officer as a disguise to aid his escape, a staple of the Hitman games.