Assassin's Creed set for 2016

Following delays caused by script re-writes and scheduling conflicts, Assassin’s Creed, the adaptation of the highly popular Ubisoft game franchise, has been given a release date of December 21, 2016.

Following the news that Michael Fassbender will be starring in the film, it has also been announced that the Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard, famous for her mainstream roles in The Dark Knight Rises and Inception, will also be on board. There has been no word yet as to what role she will be playing, however, following rumours that the movie will be an original story set in both modern-day and Inquisition-era Spain, and that Fassbender will be playing dual roles, it is possible that Cotillard will too.

According to gossip, Fassbender will be playing both modern-day protagonist Michael Lynch, a death row inmate who is used as a pawn in the war between the Assassins and their old enemies the Templars, and as Lynch’s ancestor, an assassin called Aguilar de Agarorobo. This suggests that Assassin’s Creed will be an original story set in the game’s universe and not an adaptation of any existing game in the franchise.

Fassbender and Cotillard previously starred together in Macbeth, which itself has a general release date of 2015. It was directed by Justin Kurzel, who is also set to take the helm for Assassin’s Creed.

The film is based on a script written by playwright and relative newcomer Michael Lesley and re-drafted by Scott Frank, who helped to write such films as A Walk Among The Tombstones, The Wolverine, Minority Report and Get Shorty.

Assassin’s Creed is set to be co-produced by New Regency and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Here at Roobla, we are always cautious when approaching video game to cinema adaptations; however, with a cast and creative crew of this calibre we find ourselves being cautiously optimistic this time.