Ubisoft and Regency fast-tracking Assassin's Creed movie

Ubisoft and New Regency have recently announced that two companies are partnering on the upcoming movie based on the Assassin’s Creed franchise.

Ubisoft Motion Pictures, the film and television division of Ubisoft, will develop the Assassin’s Creed film in close collaboration with New Regency. The development of a screenplay is beginning immediately and the project is being fast tracked as the creative pieces come together, while allowing Ubisoft to maintain control of key elements of the movie’s creative direction. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed.

Ubisoft is fast-tracking the movie based on the franchise

“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 Jean-Julien Baronnet, chief executive officer, Ubisoft Motion Pictures. “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.”

The partnership with New Regency comes hot on the heels of Ubisoft Motion Pictures attaching distinguished actor Michael Fassbender to the Assassin’s Creed film. 

“We wanted to do everything we could to secure the rights to Assassin's Creed, which Ubisoft has maintained with such care and quality over the years,” said Brad Weston, president and chief executive officer, New Regency. "Having just finished working with Michael on Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave (with Plan B) made the partnership even more irresistible."

The Assassin’s Creed series deals with a secret war that has lasted millennia between the Assassins and the Templars. The Assassins seek to fight for the free will of people, while the Templars seek to control them. The first game was set during the Holy Crusades in Jerusalem. Protagonist Altaïr ibn-La'Ahad would have to jump from rooftops and sneak into groups of people in order to find and assassinate his targets.

The second game was set during the Renaissance era in Florence. The main protagonist of the II series of games – Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations – is Ezio Auditore. The II series of games dealt with the evolution of Ezio as a character, who starts out as a revenge-driven teenager only to become a highly-skilled master of Assassin. Altaïr also makes an appearance in Revelation, showing the aged assassin’s last few days. The secondary protagonist of the series is Desmond Miles, who is accessing his 'genetic memory' to live the lives of his Ancestors Altaïr and Ezio so he can get some of their skills through something referred to as the 'bleeding effect'. This will help Desmond stand up to the Templars in the present time and stop their plans for world domination.