With so much speculation, many delays and rumoured cancellation of the project, Ubisoft’s Assassins Creed is finally making its way to the big screen, but not until 21 December 2016. Even though the release is still some time away, there are some details which have emerged. Its been announced that Michael Fassbender, star of Inglourious Basterds, Prometheus and 12 Years a Slave, has been bought on board to play two roles.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Who they are though, is still a mystery, as the story is very much under wraps. An educated guess would be a present day role, and an historical figure, much how the game series has its two protagonists.
What is known though is the plot to the film will be an entirely original story, separate from the game series. The original game in the series followed Desmond Miles, a bartender who is kidnapped by Abstergo Industries who force him to use a machine which allows the user to replay genetic memories from ancestors, the Animus. A device that can read individuals DNA and access memories from distant bloodlines. In Desmond’s case, it is Altaïr, an assassin from the time of the Crusades. It was thought at first, that the film would be an adaptation of the first game, but Ubisoft have decided to move in a different direction, one that will be welcomed by fans as the film would work alongside the game series in continuity, perhaps even bridging gaps between film and game.
Directing the film will be Justin Kurzel, best known for The Snowtown Murders (2011), and writing duties will fall to Bill Cooper, Adam Collage and Michael Lesslie. Details of the plot are few, but what is rumoured is that the historical setting will be during the Spanish Inquisition and the assassin is Aguilar de Agarorobo. Present day, Fassbender will play Michael Lynch, a death row inmate who has no choice but to be used in experiments using a device similar to the Animus. Each Assassins Creed game takes place during different parts of history. The first being the Crusades, then the Renaissance period in Florence, Italy, the third game sees the action taking place during the American Revolution and finally 18th century Caribbean, the golden age of piracy.
Fans of the series are surely holding their breath in the hope that the film can do the series justice, and not fall down a familiar trap of turning good games into terrible films. But by the early look of things, it seems that it isn’t just Hollywood taking the name and running with it, with an original story and a strong lead, Assassins Creed is hoping to do the series justice. And to prove video games can be made into good films.
Assassins Creed will be hitting theatres on 21 December 2016.
