An ‘Assassin’s Creed’ Movie Sequel Is Unlikely, But What Can Ubisoft Do Next Time? [Opinion]


An Assassin’s Creed movie sequel is unlikely to happen since box-office results from the film have been below par. However, it doesn’t mean Ubisoft won’t ignore the lack of money made from it and try again. It’s worked so far for Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil.

Previous titles in the source video game series have been general failures, like AC 3 and Unity, and it didn’t stop them from attempting to keep the series going. Admittedly, those previous games weren’t bad, but they had some lofty expectations set by Assassin’s Creed II and Brotherhood. That twist at the beginning of the third (technically fifth) game left a bad taste in gamers’ mouths, as the effort and time put into Haytham Kenway’s progress ended up being pointless. Even the modern-day protagonists reacted to that twist like most of us did.

Ubisoft knew they needed to change things up when their first naval-heavy title failed to sell as well as they’d hoped at first. It was likely due to the fact that Edward Kenway wasn’t really an assassin until the very end of the game. The trend continued after Unity, their first attempt to change things, launched with game-breaking and laughably horrible glitches.

‘Assassin’s Creed Unity’ glitches nearly ruined the series at launch. [Image by Ubisoft]

The Quebec-based studio is no stranger to trying over and over to break a poor sales streak, even if it means taking a year or two off to make Assassin’s Creed: Empire (no doubt a working title) the most complete and enjoyable game they can. They will probably try to do something similar with an Assassin’s Creed movie sequel.

The story in the first film, while not adding much of anything new for fans of the video game series, was good enough to make it the best video game to film adaptations ever made, an opinion shared by Forbes and other reviewers. In fact, the story explained almost everything necessary enough that even people who have never played the games could understand it.

There is, though, enough of a story left to the mythos that another complete film could be made. The movie only gave fans the story of assassins chasing down the elusive apple of Eden, a mythological artifact that can control the human mind, and the race against the Templars of Abstergo. There are still at least two more “pieces of Eden” the first movie never mentioned.

As the Templars at Abstergo use their probably hefty wealth to recover from Callum Lynch’s (Michael Fassbender) sudden decision, they turn their attention to a recent archaeological discovery. It turns out that there is also a staff (leaving the shroud for a possible third film), and the Ancients reveal themselves to Callum, much like they did with Desmond in the games.

‘Assassin’s Creed II’ and further titles had Desmond interacting with the Ancients. [Image by Ubisoft]

The race would be on all over again as the assassins create their own animus, with the help of Sofia (Marion Cotillard), which would resemble the ones used in the games more closely. The new one could come complete with a snarky wisecracking aide who sees everything Callum does via computer monitor, much like Shaun Hastings. Face it: That massive robot arm ended up being impractical even for the story, and Callum’s visions weren’t that clearly visible outside his own experiences.

The story for Assassin’s Creed 2, much like the first film, could easily mirror that of the game’s first sequel and possibly add a mysterious “subject 16” who left clues in the animus programming before Abstergo officially lobotomized him. Where the first movie explained what it’s all about, the second one could easily take audiences further down the proverbial rabbit hole.

While the Assassin’s Creed movie sequel might be only in the planning phase, for now, it’s unknown if Ubisoft will persist in not including Desmond Miles, a protagonist who was central to the games’ story all the way through Black Flag.

We might even see a few amusing homages to what was wrong with the games as well, like Callum possibly stopping mid-climb for next to no reason.

What do you think should be in the sequel, if it happens?

[Featured Image by Ubisoft/20th Century Fox]

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