Deadline is reporting that New Regency and Ubisoft are looking at Justin Kurzel to direct the upcoming live-action adaptation of their hit video game series, Assassin’s Creed, which is currently set to star Michael Fassbender. If Kurzel signs on, it will be his second outing with the actor, as the two just finished working on Macbeth. Though there’s no deal just yet, Deadline says that there will be one shortly as the producers are eager to get production started.
So, now we have Michael Fassbender and Justin Kurzel on Assassin’s Creed, and Tom Hardy and Doug Liman set for Splinter Cell. I think it’s safe to say that Ubisoft is single-handedly re-inventing the video game adaptation genre. We’ve never seen a truly great film based on a video game property, but between Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell, and even the studio’s in-development Watch Dogs adaptation, that’s all about to change.
I’ve said this many times before, but what Ubisoft is doing here has me very excited. I think it’s great that they’re really putting in the effort to make sure that these films turn out to be of some quality. For too long now we’ve been treated to trash like Resident Evil, Doom, Street Fighter etc. No one has been able to get it right, and it’s a shame because there are so many great video games that would make for excellent films. Now, with Assassin’s Creed, as well as Ubi’s other projects, the moviegoing public will finally see that a video game can be turned into a feature-film successfully.
Of course, I may turn out to be wrong. Ubisoft’s adaptations could very well flop spectacularly. With the talent involved though, I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’m extremely optimistic about both Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell and I really do hope that this is a signal that the genre is about to turn a new leaf.
