Sony Takes Screen Rights To 'Assassin's Creed' Video Game Series

Looks like Sony has won the dubious honor of being able to produce and distribute a film based on the UbiSoft video game series Assassin's Creed.

The games feature a lot of running along rooftops, pushing through crowds and tracking powerful targets before driving a knife in their back. There's even a sci-fi component as the bulk of the action in each game is actually the recreation of ancestral memories buried within a guy who is related to the line of assassins the player controls in the series. The presentation in each game is undeniably cinematic, but as with most games the action doesn't directly translate to cinema. But there is a story there that could be adapted into a movie, and one that would make sense in context with the various Assassin's Creed game titles.

In May, UbiSoft formed a division specifically intended to push the development of films based on the publisher's game properties. The obvious joke there is "oh, Prince of Persia worked out so well," but that is exactly the reason that UbiSoft is trying to exercise more control over the development of films backed on the company's games. It can ill afford another Klendathu, er, Prince of Persia.

A number of studios tried to land Assassin's Creed, but Variety says Sony will be the winner, as the company is in final negotiations to take the screen rights. It's too early in the game to make any calls about what creative team might be involved, but if Sony's deal closes, we'll probably hear about a screenwriter hire in the next few weeks.