If you're an action fan, chances are you've got your eye on Timothy Olyphant's Hitman and Frank Miller's The Spirit -- and Slashfilm is here to help you pencil in the appropriate dates on your filmgoing calendar.

First things first: Hitman, the Olyphant-led videogame adaptation covered in our Fall Movie Preview, has had its release pushed back from October 17th to November 21st. Slashfilm doesn't give any official reason for the studio's decision, but the article does note that the move will put Hitman in the thick of a fairly crowded field, including The Mist, Enchanted, No Country for Old Men, and August Rush. It's worth noting that Hitman seems to be more of a shut-off-your-brain-and-enjoy-the-ride actioner than anything else on the slate, but still, the move suggests some last-minute turbulence behind the scenes. (To get a look at some Hitman trailers, click the second link below.)

Looking ahead, Lionsgate has announced a January 16, 2009 release date for The Spirit, the Frank Miller-directed adaptation of the classic Will Eisner comic strip that will star Gabriel Macht, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, and Eva Mendes. As Slashfilm points out, January is an historically unusual month for a film like this, but the studios have been inching their blockbusters further up the calendar in recent years -- and if the movie's good, it won't matter when it comes out anyway.

Source: Slashfilm
Source: Hitman Trailers