Assassinations have formed a major plot element in various works of fiction and have also attracted scholarly attention. In Assassinations and Murder in Modern Italy: Transformations in Society and Culture, Stephen Gundle and Lucia Rinaldi analyze modern Italian assassinations in their historical and cultural contexts and explore the films, fiction, theatre and art that they have inspired."1 Nicholas Cullather has discussed "The Movie Version" of John F. Kennedy's assassination.2
This article provides a list of fictional stories in which assassination (the murder of a prominent person) features as an important plot element. Passing mentions are omitted from this list.
Novels
- Bolesław Prus, Pharaoh (1895)
- Jack London, The Assassination Bureau, Ltd (half-written by London, completed by Robert L. Fish, published 1963). Possibly influenced by a J.M. Barrie novella, Better Dead.
- Geoffrey Household, Rogue Male (1939)
- Richard Condon, The Manchurian Candidate (1959)
- Mario Puzo, The Godfather (1969)
- Frederick Forsyth, The Day of the Jackal (1971)
- Loren Singer, The Parallax View (1972)
- Trevanian, The Eiger Sanction (1972)
- Trevanian, The Loo Sanction (1973)
- Richard Condon, Winter Kills (1974)
- Matthew Eden, The Murder of Lawrence of Arabia, ISBN 0-690-01790-1 (1979)
- Trevanian, Shibumi (1979)
- Robert Ludlum, "The Bourne Identity" (1980)
- Alan Moore, V for Vendetta (1982-1988) Graphic novel featuring numerous assassinations of governmental and quasi-governmental officials by the eponymous character, V.
- J. C. Pollock, Threat Case (1992)
- Tom Clancy, Executive Orders (1996)
- Vince Flynn, Term Limits (1997)
- Vince Flynn, Transfer of Power (1999)
- Lee Child, Without Fail (2002)
- Barry Eisler, Hard Rain (2003)
- Brian Josepher, What the Psychic Saw (2005)
- Thomas A. Taylor, Mortal Shield (April 2008)
Short stories
Plays
Films
- Hamlet — from 1900 to 2000, dozens of film versions, in various languages, of the tragedy by William Shakespeare.
- The Assassination of the Duke of Guise — 1908 film on the assassination of a French duke
- Il Ballo in maschera — 1911 Italian film by Ugo Falena based on Verdi's opera, inspired by the assassination of Swedish King Gustav III
- The Birth of a Nation — 1915 film by D.W. Griffith recreates the assassination of President Lincoln in Ford's Theatre
- Macbeth — from 1916 to 2006, a dozen film adaptations of the tragedy by William Shakespeare.
- Das Fest der schwarzen Tulpe — 1920 German film about the staged lynching of Dutch politicians Johan and Cornelis de Witt in 1672, based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas
- The Black Tulip — 1921 Anglo-Dutch film about the staged lynching of Dutch politicians Johan and Cornelis de Witt in 1672, based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas
- Rasputin and the Empress — 1932 film starring Lionel Barrymore as the murdered monk, Rasputin
- Hans Westmar — 1933 banned German propaganda film by Franz Wenzler about a murdered stormtrooper, based on the life of Nazi martyr Horst Wessel, immortalized by the Nazi Party anthem "Die Fahne hoch"
- The Man Who Knew Too Much — 1934 film by Alfred Hitchcock about a British family on holiday in Switzerland who become involved in an assassination plot
- The Prisoner of Shark Island — 1936 film by John Ford about the imprisonment of Dr. Samuel Mudd, following the Lincoln assassination
- Secret Agent — 1936 film by Alfred Hitchcock about a British spy (John Gielgud) sent to assassinate a German agent
- Juarez — 1939 film by William Dieterle about the execution of Mexican Emperor Maximilian by President Juárez
- Foreign Correspondent — 1940 film by Alfred Hitchcock in which a diplomat's decoy is assassinated in Amsterdam.
- Après Mein Kampf mes crimes — 1940 French anti-Nazi propaganda film, depicting the assassinations of Ernst Röhm and Kurt von Schleicher during the Night of the Long Knives, then later Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß
- De Mayerling à Sarajevo — 1940 film by Max Ophüls about the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, precipitating World War I
- Man Hunt — 1941 film by Fritz Lang, starring Walter Pidgeon and George Sanders, based on Geoffrey Household's 1939 novel, Rogue Male. A British hunter vacationing in the Bavarian Alps near the Berghof, Hitler's home in Berchtesgaden, gets Hitler in his gun sight and ponders whether or not he should shoot him.
- The 47 Ronin — 1941 Japanese film by Kenji Mizoguchi about the Forty-seven Ronin, a group of samurai who plotted to avenge their lord's death in 1701
- Hangmen Also Die — 1943 film by Fritz Lang about the assassination of Nazi Reinhard Heydrich
- Hitler's Madman — 1943 film by Douglas Sirk about the assassination of Nazi Reinhard Heydrich
- The Killers — 1946 film by Robert Siodmak about two hitmen, based on the story by Ernest Hemingway and starring Burt Lancaster
- Le Secret de Mayerling — 1949 film by Jacques Dacqmine about the possibility of assassination in the 1889 Mayerling Incident
- All the King's Men — 1949 film by Robert Rossen about the assassination of Southern governor Willie Stark, inspired by the 1935 death of Louisiana governor Huey Long
- Border Incident — 1949 film by Anthony Mann in which an undercover Mexican agent (Ricardo Montalban) is murdered by corrupt US ranchers
- Prince of Foxes — 1949 film by Henry King in which an artist and an assassin join forces against Cesare Borgia in the Italian Renaissance
- Julius Caesar — 1950, 1953, 1970 film adaptations of the tragedy by William Shakespeare.
- The Enforcer — 1951 film about the Murder, Inc. group of professional hitmen, starring Humphrey Bogart
- Viva Zapata! — 1952 film by Elia Kazan about the murders of Francisco Madero and Emiliano Zapata
- Suddenly — 1954 film starring Frank Sinatra as a would-be presidential assassin.
- Ernst Thälmann - Führer seiner Klasse — 1955 East German film in which Ernst Thälmann, German Communist Party leader, is murdered in Buchenwald
- Sissi — 1955 film, and sequels, starring Romy Schneider, commemorate Sissi, Queen Empress of Austro-Hungary, although none depict her 1898 assassination
- The Man Who Knew Too Much — 1956 remake by Alfred Hitchcock about an American family on vacation in Morocco who become involved in an assassination plot
- Anastasia — 1956 film by Anatole Litvak concerns a mysterious woman from a Parisian asylum (Ingrid Bergman) who might be Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia, survivor of the murder of her family in 1918
- Ashes and Diamonds — 1958 Polish film by Andrzej Wajda about two Home Army soldiers ordered to assassinate a Communist commissar
- Murder, Inc. — 1960 film about the Murder, Inc. group of professional hitmen, starring Stuart Whitman
- The Gleiwitz Case — 1961 East German film in which Nazis plan to murder a concentration camp inmate dressed in Polish uniform as a pretext to invade Poland, based on the 1939 Gleiwitz incident
- The Manchurian Candidate — 1962 and 2004 film adaptations of the novel by Richard Condon
- Chushingura — 1962 Japanese film by Hiroshi Inagaki about the Forty-seven Ronin, a group of samurai who plotted to avenge their lord's death in 1701, starring Toshiro Mifune
- Dr. No — 1962 thriller about the murder of British agents in Jamaica, and the investigation by a certain James Bond — followed by numerous sequels
- Nine Hours to Rama — 1963 film about the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi
- Becket — 1964 film about the assassination of Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas à Becket in 1170
- Behold a Pale Horse — 1964 film by Fred Zinnemann about a Spanish Civil War grudge between an exiled guerrilla (Gregory Peck) and a policeman (Anthony Quinn)
- Pharaoh — Oscar-nominated 1966 Polish film by Jerzy Kawalerowicz about the assassination of a reformist Egyptian pharaoh, adapted from the novel by Bolesław Prus, and eerily echoing the death of John F. Kennedy in 1963
- The Man Called Flintstone — 1966 thriller in which Bedrock quarry employee and family man Fred Flintstone becomes the target of assassins when he takes the place of a murdered agent
- Our Man Flint — 1966 spoof in which a retired secret agent (James Coburn) avoids assassination by mad scientists bent on world domination
- The Battle of Algiers — Oscar-nominated 1966 Italian film by Gillo Pontecorvo about political violence during the Algerian War
- The Night of the Generals — 1967 thriller about the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler
- The President's Analyst — 1967 comedy in which the US President's personal psychiatrist (James Coburn) must evade assassination attempts by US government agencies, the "CEA" and the "FBR"
- The Royal Hunt of the Sun — 1969 film, based on the play by Peter Shaffer, in which Inca Emperor Atahualpa meets his end in 1533 at the hands of Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro
- The Price of Power — 1969 spaghetti western depicting a fictionalized assassination of President Garfield, starring Van Johnson
- The Assassination Bureau — 1969 film, based on the novel, The Assassination Bureau, Ltd, by Jack London and Robert L. Fish.
- Z — 1969 film by Costa-Gavras
- Burn! — 1969 film by Gillo Pontecorvo in which the revolutionary activities of a British agent (Marlon Brando) on a Portuguese colonial island lead to assassination
- The Conformist — 1970 film by Bernardo Bertolucci about a fascist assassin sent from Italy to assassinate his former professor in Paris.
- Nicholas and Alexandra — 1971 film about Russian Tsar Nicholas II and his consort, Tsarina Alexandra
- The Godfather — 1972 film based on the novel by Mario Puzo and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, involving assassinations among Mafia families; is ranked among the greatest films of all time.
- The Mechanic — 1972 movie about a hitman and his protégé.
- The Assassination of Trotsky — 1972 film by Joseph Losey about the death of Leon Trotsky in Mexico City
- Trotz alledem! — 1972 East German film in which Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, Spartacist League leaders, are murdered by Berlin Freikorps
- The Day of the Jackal — 1973 film adaptation by Fred Zinnemann of the novel by Frederick Forsyth, where the assassin of Patrice Lumumba and Rafael Trujillo is assigned to kill Charles de Gaulle
- Executive Action — 1973 film details a presumed conspiracy to assassinate John F. Kennedy, based on a bestseller by Mark Lane
- Sleeper — Hugo-winning 1973 comedy by Woody Allen, set in the year 2173, when rebels have killed a dictator, and a defrosted health food store owner from 1973 (Allen) is sent to assassinate the dictator's only surviving part, his nose, before it can be cloned
- Scorpio — 1973 film about a French assassin, played by Alain Delon
- The Parallax View — 1974 film adapted from the novel by Loren Singer.
- The Godfather Part II — 1974 film, the second part of the Godfather trilogy, written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, and directed by Coppola; is ranked among the greatest films of all time.
- Les Ordres — 1974 film by Michel Brault about the reaction of the Canadian government to the assassination of Pierre Laporte in 1970
- Agony: The Life and Death of Rasputin — 1974 Soviet film about the murdered monk, Rasputin
- La Muerte de Pancho Villa — 1974 Mexican film by Mario Hernández about the assassination of Pancho Villa in 1923
- Peregrina — 1974 Mexican film by Mario Hernández about the assassination of Yucatán Governor Felipe Carrillo Puerto in 1924
- L'Attentat de Damiens — 1975 French TV movie about the assassination attempt made against King Louis XV by Robert-François Damiens in 1757
- Love and Death — 1975 comedy by Woody Allen, set during the French invasion of Russia in 1812, when a coward (Allen) and his cousin decide to assassinate Napoleon Bonaparte
- Confrontation — Oscar-submitted 1975 Swiss film by Rolf Lyssy about the assassination of Swiss Nazi leader Wilhelm Gustloff in 1936
- The Eiger Sanction — 1975 movie from the novel by Trevanian
- I, Claudius — 1976 BBC TV miniseries on political violence in ancient Rome
- The Eagle Has Landed — 1976 film about a German plot to assassinate Winston Churchill
- Taxi Driver — 1976 movie by Martin Scorsese.
- Helter Skelter — 1976 TV movie, starring Steve Railsback, about the Charles Manson Family murders, the Family including Squeaky Fromme, would-be assassin of President Ford
- The Life and Assassination of the Kingfish — 1977 TV movie about the assassination of Louisiana governor Huey Long, starring Edward Asner
- Foul Play — 1978 comedy-thriller film involving a plot to assassinate the Pope in San Francisco, starring Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn.
- Roots: The Next Generations — 1979 miniseries, based on the book by Alex Haley, features two political figures later assassinated, black nationalist Malcolm X and American Nazi leader George Lincoln Rockwell
- Apocalypse Now — 1979 movie by Francis Ford Coppola, set during the Vietnam War, loosely inspired by Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness, and starring Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen. Sheen's character is sent to assassinate Brando's.
- Winter Kills — 1979 movie adapted from the novel by Richard Condon.
- Jean Jaurès: vie et mort d'un socialiste — 1980 French TV movie about the assassination of Socialist leader and pacifist Jean Jaurès in 1914
- The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd — 1980 TV movie, starring Dennis Weaver, about the imprisonment of Dr. Samuel Mudd, following the Lincoln assassination
- Tom Horn — 1980 Western, starring Steve McQueen, about Tom Horn, a gun for hire in 1890s Wyoming
- Death of a Prophet — 1981 film by Woodie King Jr. about the assassination of black nationalist Malcolm X, starring Morgan Freeman
- Blow Out — 1981 movie directed by Brian De Palma, starring John Travolta as a sound engineer who is earwitness to a political assassination.
- The Amateur — 1981 film about a CIA cryptographer (John Savage) who trains as an assassin after the terrorist death of his fiancée
- Gandhi — 1982 film by Richard Attenborough about Mahatma Gandhi
- Under Fire — 1983 film about the Somoza regime in Nicaragua, involving the assassination of a rebel leader
- For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story — 1983 TV movie about assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers
- Sadat — 1983 miniseries about assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, starring Louis Gossett
- Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro — 1983 Indian film directed by Kundan Shah, a dark satirical comedy involving the assassination of a mayor.
- Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil — 1985 TV movie about Nazi Germany, including the Night of the Long Knives
- Dawn — 1985 film by Miklós Jancsó about the murder of a British officer (Michael York) by Zionist terrorists, based on the novel by Elie Wiesel
- Rosa Luxemburg — 1986 West German film by Margarethe von Trotta in which Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, Spartacist League leaders, are murdered by Berlin Freikorps
- The Assault — Oscar-winning 1986 film about the consequences for a Dutch family after the assassination of a Nazi collaborator, based on the novel by Harry Mulisch
- Lady Jane — 1986 film about the execution of English queen Lady Jane Grey
- Shaka Zulu — 1986 miniseries and 1987 film about the murder of Zulu king Shaka by his brothers in 1828
- Cry Freedom — 1987 film by Richard Attenborough about the murder of South African activist Steve Biko
- Mississippi Burning — 1988 film about the murders of Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney
- Talk Radio — 1988 film by Oliver Stone about a provocative, "shock jock" radio host (Eric Bogosian) goading his audience to violence, inspired by the murder of Denver broadcaster Alan Berg
- Betrayed — 1988 film by Costa-Gavras about an FBI investigation into white supremacists after the death of a Jewish radio host, inspired by the murder of Denver broadcaster Alan Berg
- De hvite bussene (Those White Buses) — 1988 Norwegian TV movie commemorates Swedish diplomat and humanitarian Count Folke Bernadotte but does not depict his 1948 assassination by Zionist terrorists
- The Murder of Mary Phagan — 1988 TV miniseries about the lynching of Jewish factory owner Leo Frank in 1915, starring Peter Gallagher
- A Dangerous Life — 1988 TV miniseries, starring Gary Busey, about how the assassination of Benigno Aquino in Manila in 1983 led finally to the downfall of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos
- A World Apart — 1988 film by Chris Menges about South African anti-apartheid activist Ruth First, starring Barbara Hershey
- Gorillas in the Mist — 1988 film about US primatologist Dian Fossey (Sigourney Weaver), murdered in Rwanda in 1985
- Romero — 1989 film about the murder of Salvadoran archbishop Óscar Romero
- Murder in Mississippi — 1990 TV movie about the murders of Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney, starring Tom Hulce
- Drug Wars: The Camarena Story — 1990 TV miniseries about US DEA agent Enrique Camarena, murdered in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1985
- Nikita — 1990 French film directed by Luc Besson concerning Nikita, who is convicted of murder. In prison, she is injected with drugs, simulating death. Officially dead, she is given the choice of either working for the DGSE as an assassin or being killed for real.
- The Godfather Part III — 1990 film, the final part of the Godfather trilogy, written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, and directed by Coppola.
- The Plot to Kill Hitler — 1990 film about the Stauffenberg plot against Adolf Hitler, starring Brad Davis
- Sandino — 1990 film by Chilean director Miguel Littín about Nicaraguan revolutionary Augusto Sandino (Joaquim de Almeida), assassinated by future dictator Anastasio Somoza García in 1934
- International Gorillay — 1990 Pakistani comedy in which three brothers plan to assassinate British novelist and "Israeli agent" sic Salman Rushdie over his book The Satanic Verses
- JFK — 1991 film by Oliver Stone
- Edward II — 1991 film by Derek Jarman about King Edward II of England
- Year of the Gun — 1991 film by John Frankenheimer about the death of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro
- The Assassin of the Tsar (Цареубийца) — 1991 Russian film about a mental patient (Малколм МакДауэлл / Malcolm McDowell) who believes himself to have been the assassin of both Tsar Alexander II and Tsar Nicholas II
- Chekist (Чекист) — 1992 Russian film by Aleksandr Rogozhkin about a secret policeman in Lenin's Cheka who eliminates perceived opponents of the Bolshevik Revolution
- Malcolm X — 1992 film by Spike Lee about black nationalist Malcolm X, starring Denzel Washington
- Ruby — 1992 film about Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby (Danny Aiello), the killer of the presumed assassin of John F. Kennedy
- El Mariachi — 1992 film by Robert Rodriguez about an unemployed musician in Mexico who is targeted by hitmen
- Point of No Return — 1993 film directed by John Badham, also known as The Assassin; a remake of Nikita.
- In the Line of Fire — 1993 movie by Wolfgang Petersen about an attempted assassination of an American president; Clint Eastwood plays a Secret Service agent who had been in the detail guarding President Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
- Sniper — 1993 film by Luis Llosa about a US Marine sniper (Tom Berenger) targeting a drug lord in Panama
- 47 Ronin — 1994 Japanese film by Kon Ichikawa about the Forty-seven Ronin, a group of samurai who plotted to avenge their lord's death in 1701
- Léon (also known as 'The Professional' and 'Léon: The Professional'; 1994)
- Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long — 1995 TV movie about the assassination of Louisiana governor Huey Long, starring John Goodman
- Michael Collins — 1996 film by Neil Jordan about Irish soldier and politician Michael Collins, killed in ambush
- Ghosts of Mississippi — 1996 film by Rob Reiner about the assassin of civil rights leader Medgar Evers
- George Wallace — 1997 TV movie by John Frankenheimer about Alabama governor George Wallace and his failed assassination in 1972, starring Gary Sinise
- Grosse Pointe Blank — 1997 comedy starring John Cusack as a depressed professional assassin
- Air Force One — 1997 film starring Harrison Ford, directed by Wolfgang Petersen
- Assassin(s) — 1997 French film by Mathieu Kassovitz about two professional killers, older (Michel Serrault) mentoring younger (Kassovitz)
- The Man Who Knew Too Little — 1997 spoof starring Bill Murray as an American on vacation in England who is mistaken for a hitman involved in an assassination plot
- Anastasia — 1997 animated musical by Don Bluth in which Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia survives the murder of her family only to face assassination by the demonic resurrected monk Rasputin and his friend, an albino bat — not always reliable as an historical account
- The Terrorist — 1998 Indian film by Santosh Sivan about a young woman assigned to assassinate a South Asian leader, based on the death of Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi in Tamil Nadu in 1991
- Ronin — 1998 film by John Frankenheimer about mercenaries hired to obtain a briefcase from its courier
- Lumumba — 2000 film by Haitian director Raoul Peck about the overthrow and murder of Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba
- O Processo dos Távoras — 2001 Portuguese miniseries about the trial of members of the nobility accused in the attempted assassination of Portuguese King Joseph I in 1758
- In the Time of the Butterflies — 2001 film, starring Salma Hayek, about the murders of the three Mirabal sisters for their opposition to Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo
- Zoolander — 2001 comedy by Ben Stiller in which a vacuous male model (Stiller) is programmed to kill the Malaysian Prime Minister — banned in Malaysia
- Frida — 2002 film by Julie Taymor about Mexican painter Frida Kahlo involves both Soviet exile Leon Trotsky (Geoffrey Rush) and his original, failed, assassin David Alfaro Siqueiros (Antonio Banderas), world-renowned mural painter and Stalinist
- The Bourne Identity — 2002 film directed by Doug Liman.
- Interview with the Assassin — 2002 mock documentary written and directed by Neil Burger, purportedly about the "second gunman" at the John F. Kennedy assassination.
- Nothing So Strange — 2002 film, directed by Brian Flemming in the style of an "independent documentary", centering on the fictional assassination of Microsoft's Bill Gates, which occurs before the end of the opening credits; the film resonates with numerous references to the John F. Kennedy assassination.
- Good Morning, Night — 2003 film by Marco Bellocchio about the death of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro
- El Misterio Galíndez — 2003 Spanish film, starring Harvey Keitel, about the New York disappearance of a writer opposed to Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo, based on the 1956 case of Basque Columbia University professor Jesús de Galíndez
- X2 — 2003 film by Bryan Singer where an attempted assassination of the US President is a pretext for a general war of human against mutant
- Gunpowder, Treason & Plot — 2004 miniseries by Gillies MacKinnon about the 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament and King James I
- Helter Skelter — 2004 TV movie, starring Jeremy Davies, about the Charles Manson Family murders, the Family including Squeaky Fromme, would-be assassin of President Ford
- Man on Fire — 2004 film by Tony Scott about a bodyguard and ex-CIA assassin in Mexico (Denzel Washington) whose young charge is kidnapped
- The President's Last Bang — 2005 South Korean film by Im Sang-soo about the assassination of President Park Chung-hee in 1979 by his own KCIA Director of intelligence
- The Feast of the Goat — 2005 Anglo-Spanish film by Luis Llosa about the assassination in 1961 of Rafael Trujillo, Dominican caudillo and occasional President, based on the novel by Mario Vargas Llosa
- Magnicidio – Complot en Lomas Taurinas — 2005 Mexican film by Miguel Marte about the 1994 assassination of PRI politician Luis Donaldo Colosio
- Pope John Paul II — 2005 miniseries in which the Pope (Jon Voight) survives an assassination attempt
- The Assassination of Richard Nixon — 2005 film about the attempted assassination by hijacked airliner of President Nixon, based on the suppressed 1974 Samuel Byck case
- The Matador — 2005 comedy by Richard Shepard starring Pierce Brosnan as an aging bisexual hitman
- Munich — 2005 film by Steven Spielberg about the hunt for those purportedly involved in the 1972 Munich massacre
- Bobby — 2006 film by Emilio Estevez about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy (Lynn Compton, later the prosecutor of Kennedy's assassin, is a lieutenant in the 2001 paratrooper miniseries Band of Brothers)
- The Killing of John Lennon — 2006 film about the murder of former Beatle John Lennon by an obsessed fan
- Lilís — 2006 Dominican film about the 1899 assassination of Dominican dictator Ulises Heureaux
- Death of a President — 2006 fictional documentary about the assassination of George W. Bush
- The Wind That Shakes the Barley — 2006 film by Ken Loach about violence during the Anglo-Irish War, starring Cillian Murphy
- Rang De Basanti — 2006 Hindi film about the assassination of a corrupt Indian Defence Minister.
- All the King's Men — 2006 remake by Steven Zaillian about the assassination of Southern governor Willie Stark, inspired by the 1935 death of Louisiana governor Huey Long
- V for Vendetta — 2006 movie wherein the main character, V, assassinates numerous governmental and quasi-governmental officials in his quest to topple a fascist regime.
- Shake Hands with the Devil — 2007 film, starring Roy Dupuis, in which the death of President Juvénal Habyarimana triggers the Rwandan Genocide
- Chapter 27 — 2007 film about the murder of former Beatle John Lennon by an obsessed fan, starring Jared Leto
- A Mighty Heart — 2007 film by Michael Winterbottom about the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl (Dan Futterman) by Islamist terrorists
- Shooter — 2007 movie by Antoine Fuqua, dealing with an assassination attempt on a U.S. president.
- Hitman — 2007 movie about a genetically engineered assassin known only as "Agent 47" who targets the Russian President
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007).
- Blood on the Moon — 2007 TV movie about the trial of Fenian Patrick J. Whelan for the assassination of Canadian Father of Confederation, D'Arcy McGee
- The Hunting Party — 2007 movie by Richard Shepard in which journalists in Bosnia attempting to contact a Serb war criminal are mistaken for CIA assassins, inspired by actual events centred on Radovan Karadžić
- Vantage Point — 2008 movie about the seeming assassination of a US President (William Hurt) in Spain
- Valkyrie — 2008 film about the Stauffenberg plot against Adolf Hitler, starring Tom Cruise
- Milk — 2008 film by Gus Van Sant about the murders of San Francisco mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) by a disgruntled coworker in 1978
- Trópico de Sangre — 2009 film, currently in production, starring Michelle Rodriguez, about the murders of the three Mirabal sisters for their opposition to Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo
- Henri IV — 2009 German film, currently in production, involves the death of French King Henry IV in 1610
- Manhunt — 2009 film, currently in production, about the aftermath of the Lincoln assassination, based on Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, by James L. Swanson
Television
- Rogue Male (1976) — a BBC TV film, starring Peter O'Toole and Alistair Sim, based on Geoffrey Household's 1939 novel, Rogue Male.
- La Femme Nikita (1997–2001) — a television spy drama, based on the French film Nikita, starring Peta Wilson and Roy Dupuis as assassins who work in a secret government counter-terrorist organization, "Section One." Section One's operatives (assassins) work not for monetary gain nor from ideological devotion, but out of a fear of being canceled (executed) for sub-standard performance. La Femme Nikita had a run of five seasons and a total of 96 episodes; during its first two seasons, it was the highest-rated drama on American basic cable. Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, who created and produced La Femme Nikita, later went on to create 24.
- The West Wing (1999–2006) — In the first season finale, in the episode "What Kind of Day Has It Been" there is an assassination attempt on President Bartlet's personal aide, Charlie Young. It is, however, thwarted by the Secret Service. In the following episodes the assassins are discovered to have been members of an organization called Virginia White Pride, a group of racists and white supremacists. In the third season, President Bartlet orders the assassination of Qumari Defence Minister Abdul Ibn Shareef, after it comes to light that the latter has ordered a group of terrorists to blow up the Golden Gate Bridge and is plotting other terrorist acts.
- 24 (2001–present) — assassination plots have featured prominently throughout: Season 1 revolves around Counter-Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer's attempts to stop the assassination of Democratic presidential candidate David Palmer, Season 2 ends with the attempted assassination of now-President Palmer, Season 3 involves the assassination by Jack Bauer of his superior Ryan Chappelle at the behest of terrorist Stephen Saunders, Season 4 features an attempt to assassinate President Keeler by shooting down Air Force One (and subsequently the assassination of the president's son), Season 5's plot is driven by the assassination of former President David Palmer at the beginning of the first episode, along with the assassinations of CTU employees Michelle Dessler and Tony Almeida. Season 6 involves the attempted assassinations of President Wayne Palmer and Former President Charles Logan.
- Babylon 5 (1993–1998) — features several assassinations (meaning the targeted killing of a significant political figure, rather than the many other deaths or murders that occur in the show). One of the earliest assassinations is of Earth's President Santiago, in a spectacular scene showing the explosion of the Presidential Spaceship, Earth Force One. The same episode shows his Vice-President Clark being sworn in. The scene is shot as a replica of the swearing in of LBJ, complete with Santiago's widow posed in the background. Clark's assumption of power begins Earth's slow decline into fascism, and it was discovered his faction arranged the assassination of President Santiago.
- Alias (2001–2006) — numerous assassinations, real and simulated, take place over the course of Sydney Bristow's odyssey through the underworld of covert intelligence and international organized crime.
- Heroes (2006–present) — In the finale of the second volume of Heroes, "Generations", former New York Congressman Nathan Petrelli gives a nationally televised speech to the media in Odessa, Texas, regarding the successful stopping of an outbreak of a deadly virus. About to reveal that he has the ability to fly, he is shot in the chest twice, mid-sentence, by an unknown assassin who quickly leaves the scene. Nathan falls into the arms of his brother, Peter, and uses his last breath to whisper his name.
- President William McKinley's assassin Leon Czolgosz is the demon in "Leon," episode 6 of the first season of Reaper (2007).
Animation
- Golgo 13 — Directed by Osamu Dezaki, the anime is about a professional assassin. Only two Anime installments were made.
- Noir — Anime TV series that follows two female assassins' search to understand their past.
Board games
Video games
- Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken (1983) — Adventure game focusing on a murder case in Kobe, Japan
- Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode (1988) and Golgo 13: The Mafat Conspiracy (1990) are two NES games based on the Anime/Manga.
- The Grand Theft Auto series (1997–2008) features numerous missions which involve assassinating people.
- Shinobido — Heavily stealth-based video game centered around feudal-era Japan and its inhabitants. The protagonist is a ninja, who is given contact killing missons among others, and becomes a politically heavily involved reconnaissance agent, thief and mostly, assassin.
- Tenchu (1998–2008) — Same as above, the originator of the next-generation ninja subterfuge gaming genre. Released earlier, more story-driven and somewhat less political, assassination is a tradamark feature of the series.
- Splinter Cell — Stealth action game which ends with an assassination of a powerful political leader.
- Hitman: Codename 47 (2000) — Tactical stealth game which involves the assassination of various targets. It was followed by a number of sequels (see Hitman (series)).
- Ragnarok Online (2001) — An MMORPG where the player can choose to become an assassin as a second job class.
- Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002) — RPG with numerous assassinations and even a guild dedicated to assassinations called the Morag Tong.
- Total War (2006) — a strategy game series where you can send assassins against your foes and their servants.
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006) — RPG in which one may join an assassins' guild, the Dark Brotherhood. Also, the main storyline opens with an emperor being assassinated; the entire game hinges on this event.
- The Godfather: The Game (2006) - the game features several missions with the goal to assassinating high-ranking members of the Five Families, including the Dons.
- Assassin's Creed (2007) — Game in which one plays a member of the Hashshashin sect during the Third Crusade.
- Call of Duty 4 (2008) — In two missions, you play as a sniper on a failed assassination attempt.
- Star Wars: Force Unleashed (2008) - The four first levels invold with the mission to assassinating Jedi masters.
- Fable II (2008) — This game allows you to be an assassin .
See also
Notes
- ^ ASSASSINATIONS AND MURDER IN MODERN ITALY Transformations in Society and Culture edited by Stephen Gundle and Lucia Rinaldi (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).
- ^ Nicholas Cullather, "History, Conspiracy, and the Kennedy Assassination", Retrieving the American Past, ed. Marc Horger (New York: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2005), 301-330.
