Ubisoft already landed actor Michael Fassbender for its Assassin’s Creed film, and now it’s tagged New Regency production studios to help bring its temporal-bending science-fiction games to the big screen.
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“Ubisoft chose to partner with New Regency because they are a talent- and filmmaker-driven company, with the same independent and creative mindset that we have at Ubisoft Motion Pictures,” said Ubisoft Motion Pictures chief executive officer Jean-Julien Baronnet. “Bringing aboard New Regency’s renowned production and distribution expertise while maintaining our own creative and financial flexibility ensures that Assassin’s Creed will be a high-quality film that respects the lore and fans of the video game franchise.”
Ubisoft Motion Pictures is the publisher’s film and television division. This production company will allow the game-maker to maintain financial and creative control over its properties as they become films. Ubisoft is beginning work on a script immediately.
“We wanted to do everything we could to secure the rights to Assassin’s Creed, which Ubisoft maintained with such care and quality over the years,” New Regency chief executive officer Brad Weston said. “Having just finished working with Michael [Fassbender] on Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave made the partnership even more irresistible.”
To give the film’s production credibility, Ubisoft attached Fassbender to Assassin’s Creed early in production. The actor is known for his role as Magneto in X-Men: First Class and as the android David in Prometheus. He also has experience with video games as he voiced a character in Fable III.
Video game movies typically don’t work out. We’ve heard of numerous properties, some bigger than Assassin’s Creed, which have fallen through. Halo had The Lord of the Rings’ Peter Jackson attached, but it still stumbled due to Microsoft’s desire to control the film’s plot and more.
The deal Ubisoft Motion Pictures struck with New Regency seems specifically designed to avoid that trap.