Variety reports Michael Fassbender has signed with Ubisoft to star in the first feature film adaptation of the gaming company’s Assassin’s Creed franchise. Fassbender will also co-produce with his DMC Film partner Conor McCaughan. Ubisoft is looking to assemble a director and a writer before choosing a studio, although they have had meetings with Sony in the past year.
First released in 2007, with four subsequent sequels (as well as various spin-offs), the game involves Desmond Miles, a bartender kidnapped by a corporation and forced to use a machine called the Animus, which allows him to relive the memories of his ancestor Altair, who was an Assassin in the Middle East during the Crusades. 2009’s “Assassin’s Creed II” saw him take up the mantle of another predecessor, Ezio, in Italy in the 14th century, while the upcoming “Assassin’s Creed III” [trailer] will involve a half-Native American protagonist in Colonial America at the end of the 18th century. [The Playlist]
Jean-Julien Baronnet, CEO of Ubisoft Motion Pictures, says Michael Fassbender was their first choice to play Altair (as if they’d say he was the seventh choice), although we don’t know yet if Fassbender will be playing Desmond, Ezio, or anybody else as well. Any chance one of these assassins could be a nudist? We already know Fassbender’s willing.
It’s in early stages and may fall through any day now, but I’m still excited. Almost as excited as I was when, in a bout of momentary confusion, I watched a Prometheus viral and thought someone was selling Michael Fassbender robots. That may have been a false hope, but at least we might get to see Fassbender playing Altair. Let me sum up our opinion thusly: