Fassbender's Assassin's Creed character not necessarily Desmond

Ben Gilbert — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:20:00 EST

Today's news about the often spoken of but never seen Assassin's Creed film adaptation brought word that Prometheus star Michael Fassbender is playing the starring role (Fassbender's DMC Film is also being tapped for co-production). Between his leading man role and the film's description - "a man who learns his ancestors were trained assassins after he is kidnapped by a secret org with ties to the Knights Templar ... [is] sent back in time to retrieve historical artifacts" - it sounded to many like Fassbender would be taking up the role of Desmond Miles, franchise leading man. Not so fast, says Ubisoft.

"Fassbender will play the lead role, but it's too soon to say exactly which character that will be," a Ubi rep told us. Though all signs point to Fassbender playing Miles, the various media surrounding the Assassin's Creed franchise has shied away from focusing on the modern American assassin. Comic book series "The Fall" instead follows Daniel Cross, a Templar sleeper agent, through his family history in the Russian Revolution and beyond. Assassin's Creed: Lineage similarly focused on a backstory - Assassin's Creed 2 protagonist Ezio Auditore's father, Giovanni Auditore - rather than on Desmond.

"The storyline isn't bound by a certain era or even a set of characters," the Ubi rep added. "That kind of freedom gives us great flexibility in creating the movie." Which isn't to say that the film will be a Uwe Boll-esque takeoff on the game series. Like all things Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft is treading carefully so as not to anger longtime fans. "We're also taking the responsibility of maintaining fidelity with the overall story and brand very seriously," the rep said.

There's no planned launch window for the Assassin's Creed film, but Ubisoft Motion Pictures is maintaining creative control over the whole process. Michael Fassbender's DMC Film is collaborating with UMP, but Ubi retains rights to who's directing and who's writing the script.

Fassbender's Assassin's Creed character not necessarily Desmond originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony registers a slew of Assassin's Creed movie domains

Jordan Mallory — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 20:30:00 EST

Still no word on whether Sony has managed to finalize its buzz-generating deal with Ubisoft Motion Pictures to create a movie franchise based on the adventures of Desmond and friends, but it looks as though the entertainment megalith is feeling pretty good about the situation, based on a massive list of registered web domains unearthed by Fusible.

The 16 domains in question were registered by Sony Pictures on October 20, a day before news of the potential partnership found its way to the blogosphere via Variety. While indicative of Sony's confidence in the deal, purchasing the domains will prove to be a shrewd business move either way: Even if things do fall through, Sony will be able to eventually sell the domains for a phat wad.

Sony registers a slew of Assassin's Creed movie domains originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 23 Oct 2011 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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