Assassin's Creed (film)

Assassin's Creed
Teaser poster
Directed by	Justin Kurzel
Produced by	Jean-Julien Baronnet Patrick Crowley Michael Fassbender Frank Marshall Conor McCaughan Arnon Milchan
Screenplay by	Bill Collage Adam Cooper Scott Frank Michael Lesslie
Based on	Assassin's Creed by Ubisoft
Starring	Michael Fassbender Marion Cotillard Michael K. Williams Ariane Labed Jeremy Irons Brendan Gleeson
Cinematography	Adam Arkapaw
Production company	New Regency Ubisoft Motion Pictures DMC Films The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release dates	December 21, 2016 (2016-12-21) (United States)
Country	France United States
Language	English
Budget	$150–200 million

Assassin's Creed is an upcoming action adventure film based on the video game franchise of the same name. It is directed by Justin Kurzel and stars Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Michael K. Williams, Ariane Labed, Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson. The film will be set in the same universe as the video games and feature an original story that expands the series' mythology. Filming began in late August 2015 and lasted until January 2016. Assassin's Creed is scheduled to be released on December 21, 2016 in the United States.

Premise

Career criminal Callum Lynch is rescued from his own execution by Abstergo Industries, the modern-day incarnation of the Templar Order. He is forced to participate in the Animus Project and relive the memories of his ancestor Aguilar de Nerha, an Assassin during the Spanish Inquisition. As Lynch continues to experience Aguilar's memories, he begins to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to confront the Templars—age-old enemies of the Assassins—in the present day.

Cast

• Michael Fassbender as Callum Lynch and Aguilar de Nerha:

Original characters created for the film, Lynch is a descendant of the Assassins, with genetic links to Aguilar, an Assassin in 15th century Spain.

• Marion Cotillard as Sophia Rikkin: A daughter of Alan Rikkin and a member of the Animus project at Abstergo Industries.
• Michael K. Williams as Moussa: Descendant of a Caribbean Assassin who uses vodou poison against his enemies.
• Ariane Labed as Maria: An assassin in 15th century Spain with Aguilar.
• Jeremy Irons as Alan Rikkin:

The CEO of Abstergo Industries in Madrid, Spain, and the father of Sophia. The character previously appeared in the first Assassin's Creed game.

• Brendan Gleeson as Callum Lynch's father.

Production

Development

"You know, we absolutely want to respect the game. 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. But we're definitely making a feature film, and we're approaching it as a feature film, as opposed to approaching it as a video game. But I love the world... When I met up with the guys from Ubisoft and they started to explain this whole world and the idea of DNA memory – you know, 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. So I'm really excited about it, and we're working very hard to make sure that we've got the best and most exciting, original package."

—Michael Fassbender, star and producer of the film, on how much of the film would remain faithful to the game and how much would be an original story.

By October 2011, Sony Pictures was in final negotiations with Ubisoft Motion Pictures to make a film version of Assassin's Creed, to be released in 3D. In July 2012, Michael Fassbender was announced to star in the film, as well as co-produce the film through his DMC Film banner with Conor McCaughan. Jean-Julien Baronnet, CEO Ubisoft Motion Pictures, said Fassbender was the studio's first choice to star in the film. As well, negotiations between Sony Pictures and Ubisoft Motion Pictures was put on hold, with Ubisoft executives planning to develop the film independently in order to maintain greater creative control. Sony could still distribute the film, but Ubisoft Motion Pictures would not resume talks until packaging the project with a writer and director. In October, Ubisoft revealed the film would be co-produced with New Regency and distributed by 20th Century Fox. New Regency financed part of the film's production, in order for Ubisoft to not shoulder much financial risk, yet still be involved creatively; RatPac Entertainment and Alpha Pictures also co-financing the film. Baronnet also revealed Ubisoft hoped to release the film along with a new game launch for the series.

In January 2013, Michael Lesslie was hired to write the film. In June 2013, Frank Marshall entered negotiations to produce the film, along with Fassbender and McCaughan for DMC Film and Eli Richbourg for Ubisoft. In July, Scott Frank revealed he was rewriting the script. In January 2014, a Linkedin profile for executive producer Fannie Pailloux stated filming was scheduled to begin in August 2014. In April 2014, Adam Cooper and Bill Collage were hired to rewrite the script. By the end of April, Justin Kurzel was in talks to direct. In June, Olivia Munn expressed interest in appearing in the film.

Pre-production

On February 12, 2015, Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed that New Regency had begun production on the film. The following day, Marion Cotillard was revealed to have joined the cast, and that filming was expected to begin in late 2015. In April 2015, Fassbender revealed that filming is scheduled to begin in September 2015. In May 2015, Alicia Vikander was in talks to star in the film, though in the following month, she took a role in the fifth Bourne film instead, leading Ariane Labed to be cast in her place. Producers on the film include Baronnet, Patrick Crowley, Fassbender, Marshall, Conor McCaughan and Arnon Milchan. In July 2015, Michael K. Williams was added to the cast. In late August 2015, Fassbender's role was revealed as Callum Lynch in the present day and Aguilar in 15th Century Spain, as well as filming locations for the film. Aymar Azaïzia, head of Assassin's Creed content at Ubisoft, stated that the film, which is "a brand new story, [with] new characters set in our universe," had the possibility to feature "some familiar faces" and that the present day element would feature Abstergo.

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on August 31, 2015, with filming taking place in Malta, London and Spain. Adam Arkapaw serves as cinematographer, while Andy Nicholson acts as production designer. In October 2015, Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson joined the cast. In December 2015, shooting took place in Spain, and Irons' role was revealed to be Alan Rikkin. Filming ended on January 15, 2016.

Release

Assassin's Creed is scheduled to be released on December 21, 2016. The film was originally announced in May 2013 to be released on May 22, 2015, which was later pushed back the following month to June 19, 2015. In November 2013, the film was pushed back once again to a new release date of August 7, 2015. In September 2014, the film was pushed to an unspecified 2016 release date, which was revealed to be December 21, 2016 in January 2015.

Potential sequels

In March 2016, Daphne Yang, CEO of the film's Taiwanese co-financier CatchPlay, stated that New Regency was looking to turn the film into a franchise, since it is based on "successful Ubisoft games and would make ideal sequels." Two additional films are planned, with the first sequel entering development during the production of this film.

External links

• Assassin's Creed at IMDb