German-born actor Michael Fassbender who also starred in Prometheus and X-Men: First Class will be playing Desmond Miles, who comes from a long line of assassins in a silver screen adaptation of the popular Assassin’s Creed franchise. The actor also will be able to be a producer for the movie through the DMC Film company. Variety reports:
Plot revolves around a man who learns his ancestors were trained assassins after he is kidnapped by a secret org with ties to the Knights Templar, and sent back in time to retrieve historical artifacts.
“Michael Fassbender was our first choice” to play the franchise’s iconic hooded hero, said Jean-Julien Baronnet, CEO of Paris-based Ubisoft Motion Pictures. “Michael (Fassbender) is an extremely smart, talented, versatile and committed actor.”
Last fall, Ubisoft was in talks with Sony to develop a series of “Assassin’s” pics (Daily Variety, Oct. 20, 2011). But the companies have since put negotiations on hold.
Ubisoft execs now plan to stick to their initial plan and develop the film independently in order to maintain greater creative control. Last year, Ubisoft invested in launching UMP, headed by Baronnet, former CEO of Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp, to adapt the company’s games into films, TV shows and digital projects.
While Sony could still wind up distribing the films, UMP will package the project with a writer and director before resuming talks with the studio.
Fassbender is a rising commodity in Hollywood, and has numerous film credits to his name. This is a pretty good get for Ubisoft
