Michael Fassbender Will Star In And Produce 'Assassin's Creed' Video Game Adaptation

UbiSoft didn't much like the Prince of Persia film that Disney turned out — mostly because audiences didn't much like the movie — and so the game publisher is developing its next big game adaptation as an indie.

To do so, they've managed to land a guy who could make the project, based on the Assassin's Creed games, nearly essential viewing. Michael Fassbender, the actor who can jump from serious stuff like Shame and Hunger to tentpoles such as X-Men: First Class and Prometheus, is going to produce and star in the film.

There are two existing primary Assassin's Creed games, with a third set for release this fall. (Edit: There are also a number of attached games for portable systems, but the primary AC story is contained in the two console games.) They follow a man named Desmond Miles, but he isn't really the primary character; rather, a bit of technology allows Desmond to relive "ancestral memories," which throws the narrative of the first and second games back to the Crusades and Renaissance periods, respectively. (The third is set during the American Revolution.)

Presumably Fassbender will play both Desmond and whichever ancestor is the real focus of the film. The games feature a larger story, in which Desmond, in between reliving his ancestral memories, slowly uncovers secrets involving the modern version of the Knights Templar, an end of the world prophecy, and a pre-human civilization.

All of which is to say: it's pretty goofy stuff from a story standpoint, but a perfectly good narrative framework for a game where the main action involves sneaking around and killing people. How does that work as a movie? Not easily, but landing Fassbender is a pretty great way to start.

UbiSoft was once in talks with Sony to have the studio put together an Assassin's Creed film, but ultimately decided to develop and produce the film as an indie, then sell it to a studio once a product is in hand. The company may end up going with Sony (or another studio) to co-finance the movie, but Ubi will pull together a writer and director before setting up that deal. [Variety]