Assassin's Creed (film)

Assassin's Creed series logo.

The Assassin's Creed film is an upcoming, feature-length motion picture, based on the award-winning series of the same name, being developed by Ubisoft Motion Pictures for a planned 2014 release.

Development

The terms and conditions surrounding the original agreement between Ubisoft and Sony Entertainment, the film's planned distributor, have been described by Hollywood insiders as "unheard of", with Ubisoft getting the final say on budget, principal cast, script, release date and more. One individual even went so far as to say that "The whole Ubisoft/Sony deal is a waste of ink, paper and time. The level of control Sony gave up means, effectively, that Assassin’s Creed will never – and I mean never – get made."

The level of control being afforded to Ubisoft has divided critics of both games and films, with many noting that while Hollywood insiders consider Sony's move to have killed the film before it's even begun, gamers consider the move to be beneficial to the franchise's future, as in recent years, game adaptations have tended to be of poor quality.

In support of this, the studio's senior Vice President of International Marketing, Jean de Rivieres, claims that the film will "reflect the brands accurately and consolidate our fan base." The film has also being confirmed as being shot in 3D.

Michael Fassbender will both produce and star in the film. Critics have speculated that Fassbender will be portraying series-lead, Desmond Miles, though this has neither been confirmed nor denied. According to IMDb, Fassbender will portray Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. The Ubisoft Montreal Facebook page has implied that Fassbender will be playing Desmond.

On October 22, 2012, it was announced that Ubisoft Motion Pictures had chosen to develop the film in close collaboration with New Regency, because they were "a talent and filmmaker-driven company, with the same independent and creative mindset that we have at Ubisoft Motion Pictures." The development of a screenplay began immediately, and the project was fast tracked, while still allowing Ubisoft to maintain control of key elements of the film's creative direction.

Ubisoft also changed their distributor from Sony Entertainment to 20th Century Fox, though the reason for this has not been made known.

Ubisoft has also hired English writer Michael Lesslie to make the script for the movie aswell as bringing Conor McCaughan to help Fassbender produce the film.