The transition from video game to big screen has never, ever been clean or successful. I defy anyone to name a good video game adaptation. From Street Fighter to Super Mario Bros. to Max Payne, all of them are awful. Somewhere down the road though, there must be a project to change that trend. It’s not impossible, as long as you have genuine talent attached. And with that, we come to today’s most surprising news.
While Neil Burger is currently trying to get an Uncharted adaptation off the ground and while the Peter Jackson produced film version of Halo sits stuck in development, actor extraordinaire Michael Fassbender, known for choosing some of the most fascinating and challenging projects, has put his star power into producing an adaptation of Assassin’s Creed.
For those who don’t know what the story of Assassin’s Creed involves, here’s a quick plot summary:
The plot revolves around a man who learns his ancestors were trained assassins after he is kidnapped by a secret organization with ties to the Knights Templar, and is sent back in time to retrieve historical artifacts.
Sounds a bit like Indiana Jones, though it takes place much earlier in history and comes with many more sword fights and, well, more assassinating. Ubisoft, the creators of the game, have apparently been trying to make the film for a while and Fassbender has been involved since the early stages of the production.
He has been developing the project with his producing partner Conor McCaughan, who worked on a short film last year. If this gets off the ground, it will be their first feature length film as producers and Fassbender will also take the lead role.
The CEO of Ubisoft said this about getting Fassbender: “Michael Fassbender was our first choice. Michael (Fassbender) is an extremely smart, talented, versatile and committed actor.” This is true, the man is becoming his generation’s finest actor. No matter what he’s in, he will always be worth watching.
There is no word yet on when this will begin shooting but Fassbender has Twelve Years a Slave and The Counselor to shoot, the former shooting now and the latter starts in September, so Assassin’s Creed won’t begin until at least, early 2013, if not later.
Source: Variety