Michael Fassbender attends the 'Haywire' premiere during the 62nd Berlin Film Festival on 15 February 2012
Acclaimed German-Irish actor Michael Fassbender has signed up to star in and produce a film adaptation of the popular video-game series, Assassin’s Creed, along with Ubisoft Motion Pictures.
The Ubisoft game follows the story of Desmond Miles, a bartender who is kidnapped by the Knights Templar and told he is a descendant of a long line of assassins. Miles is then sent back in time to retrieve historical artefacts, and the plot unfolds against the backdrop of major historical events like the Crusades, the Renaissance, and, in the latest instalment, the American Revolution.
Assassin’s Creed is perhaps Ubisoft’s most successful franchise, receiving much critical acclaim since its release in 2007, and the series of games has sold 38m copies overall.
Originally, it looked like Sony would produce the film adaptation, but this project was put on hold. Now, Variety reports that Fassbender will co-produce the film with his partner from DMC Film, Conor McCaughan, and Ubisoft Motion Pictures.
Ubisoft’s film production arm is also hoping to develop films for its Tom Clancy game series, but its first project will be an animated children’s TV series based on Raving Rabbids.
Assassin’s Creed III, the latest game in the series, will be released in October.
If the feature film version is a success, Fassbender will likely have a lucrative franchise on his hands, as the series has seen five major releases, as well as a number of spin-offs.
UPDATE: Many thanks to reader Darren Giles who pointed out my egregious error in describing the Assassin’sCreed plotline. In fact, Miles never does simply travel back in time, but his consciousness is connected to a machine called the Animus that accesses his ancestors’ memories, which are stored in his DNA.
Image of Michael Fassbender via cinemafestival on Shutterstock
