2016 marks a very peculiar year for Assassin’s Creed fans in the sense that, for the first time since 2009, Ubisoft has decided to order its clandestine juggernaut on a one-year hiatus. The reasoning behind that absence is two-fold: firstly, off the back of Syndicate and in particular Unity‘s technical flaws, Ubi deemed that AC‘s annualized nature was actually beginning to impede on the quality of the end product.
On the other hand, and perhaps more importantly for moviegoers, Ubisoft’s decision lends some breathing space to the upcoming Assassin’s Creed movie. Pegged for a late December release, the live-action historical actioner heralds a Macbeth reunion thanks to the inclusion of director Justin Kurzel, Marion Cotillard and Michael Fassbender, who was instrumental in getting the video game movie off the ground early on in development.
Indeed, Fassbender is also attached to the AC movie in a producing capacity, though it’s really his dual role of Callum Lynch and Aguilar de Nerha that’s stealing headlines left, right and center. Upon encountering a piece of bleeding-edge tech known as the Animus, the modern-day character of Callum is able to access the memories of his distant ancestors, and today we get a glimpse of Fassbender tracing his blood-stained family tree all the way back to the Spanish Inquisition.
Assassin’s Creed is expected to open on December 21. Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson and Michael K. Williams are among the ensemble, with the latter on board to portray a character sourced from the video games.
Through a revolutionary technology that unlocks his genetic memories, Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) experiences the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar, in 15th Century Spain. Callum discovers he is descended from a mysterious secret society, the Assassins, and amasses incredible knowledge and skills to take on the oppressive and powerful Templar organization in the present day.
Published: Nov 24, 2016 01:00 pm