Fox’s big screen adaptation of the popular Assassin’s Creed gaming franchise has underwent some scripting doctoring, it seems, after the studio confirmed that Oscar nominated screenwriter Scott Frank will rewrite the film’s screenplay. In an interview with Creative Screenwriting Magazine, the scribe spoke of his desire to add his own personal touch to the project.
“I’m rewriting Assassin’s Creed right now, and what I love about it is that I’ve never adapted a video game before and it has its own set of challenges. Especially in the world of re-writes, I love trying to do something completely different if I can.”
Having been Oscar nominated for his work on Out of Sight – itself an adaptation – Frank’s résumé also includes writing credits on a variety of Hollywood productions such as Minority Report, Flight of the Phoenix and, more recently, this summer’s The Wolverine. The original draft of the Assassin’s Creed movie was penned by Michael Lesslie; a British playwright, however, the fact that the studio has hired some serious writing talent will surely boost the film’s credibility.
What’s more, with Michael Fassbender set to star and produce in the film, the Assassin’s Creed movie is shaping up to be an enticing production that could maybe, just maybe, break Hollywood’s curse of the video game adaption. After all, Ubisoft have claimed that it plans to turn the likes of Watch Dogs and Far Cry into movie franchises in the future, too.
Nonetheless, the cinematic rendition of Assassin’s Creed has been slated for release on June 29th, 2015 – having been pushed back slightly from the original May 22nd, 2015.
What’s your opinion, though? Do you feel that recruiting a respected screenwriter will give Fox the opportunity to create a faithful, entertaining adaption? Or do you feel that the two mediums are mutually exclusive? Let us know in the comments below.
