First announced in October of 2011, a big-screen adaptation of the Assassin's Creed video game series is apparently still in the works. Originally set to be produced by Sony, the film is now in the hands of New Regency and Fox, where actor Michael Fassbender will star in and produce it.
The involvement of a "serious" actor like Fassbender was met with enthusiasm and excitement, though little has happened to push the film forward since he was attached to the movie in mid-2012.
It's easy to jump to assume that the "Assassin's Creed" movie is stuck in development hell. Especially when rumors and reports keep popping up, claiming yet another writer and/or director is trying their hand at making it work. Screenwriters who've taken a stab at it include Michael Leslie, Scott Frank, Adam Cooper and Bill Collage, while the director roster has included Frank Marshall, Daniel Espinosa and most recently, Justin Kurzel. Kurzel is still attached to direct.
Fassbender recently told IGN that he approves of Kurzel's involvement, having recently worked with him on a new (and not yet released) version of Shakespeare's "Macbeth." He also confirmed that rumors of his quitting the project are false, as "nothing has changed." Fassbender claimed that the latest draft of the script is being worked on right now, and said that he's planning to visit the current writers (presumably Cooper and Collage) when his work takes him back home to Europe.
In describing the movie, the actor was very careful with his words, teasing its contents while not really giving anything away:
"There's so much cool stuff in the game that we're actually spoiled for choice in terms of what we can use and what we can't, but we also want to bring new elements to it and perhaps our own version of things that already exist in the game."
He dodged a question about whether or not the present-day aspects of the game will be incorporated into the movie, though he does note that he, the writers and director "absolutely want to respect the game." Later in the interview, he went a littler further.
"I love the world. I don't really play that many video games, but when I met up with the guys from Ubisoft and they started to explain this whole world and the idea of DNA memory... I think it's a very feasible scientific theory. I just thought, 'This is so rich,' and about the possibility of it being this cinematic experience."
Fassbender seemed eager to reassure Assassin's Creed's legions of fans that he and the rest of the crew want to make nothing less than "the best and most exciting, original package."
"Assassin's Creed" the movie will have no release date or start-of-production date to announce until the script is locked down.
