Michael Fassbender Speaks ‘Assassin’s Creed:’ ‘We’ve Got Something Special’

Video game adaptations very rarely please everyone. After all, you have two very different audiences on hand — one who spends hours immersed in a digital world, the control at their fingertips, and the second is more content to sit back and let someone control the world for them, via a script or screenplay.

Finding a movie to merge the two audiences has proved difficult over the years, and where there have been a few successes, many have failed. Step forward Assassin’s Creed which, since its surprise inception, has been carrying the hallmark for the video game adaptation genre. Many think it will be the first truly successful adaptation, but some are skeptical — which is why Michael Fassbender has spoken out about the movie.

Michael Fassbender signed on as actor/co-producer for Assassin’s Creed in 2012, an event revealed by game developers Ubisoft on their official Facebook page. Within moments the rumours began to fly. At the time, Fassbender was coming off a very successful run of movies — Shame, Prometheus, X-Men: First Class — when he announced his interest in the project, so to have his name attached to a video game movie was a little surprising. Three years later though, and the actor is happy, and he believes they have managed to pull something special out of the bag.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Fassbender revealed he is feeling confident.

“It was great. It was a huge learning experience. To be a producer on it as well was very educational. I think we’ve got something special. I think we’ve done something original in this genre.”

Speaking of his character, Callum Lynch, the latest assassin to don the infamous cowl, Fassbender kept his cards close to his chest.

“He is an outsider. He’s been institutionalized from his early teens. He’s a little bit of a lost soul of sorts. He starts to identify [his] lineage and where he comes from in a way.”

Fassbender will be expected to reveal more in the future, what with the film wrapping recently. In what could be a natural transition, though, maybe the reveals and secrets for a movie about a clandestine assassins guild will remain mysterious until the film is released. It would certainly make a change in an age populated with social media. They have been making the most of the accessibility though — the Assassin’s Creed team were celebrating recently when they wrapped the shoot, and posted about it on their Twitter page.

It is my honor to announce that #assassinscreedmovie last shot was taken minutes ago! Congratulations guys!!! pic.twitter.com/UxsiUDIQQm

— Aymar Azaïzia (@AymarMtl) January 15, 2016

As video game movies go, the history is sketchy at best. What Assassin’s Creed seems to be getting right is the authenticity, and the close connection to the plot from the games. They wisely created their own storyline — which saves tainting beloved characters from the franchise — but kept it true to the source material. Assassin’s Creed will see Lynch taking trips to the past to visit ancestor and Spanish assassin, Aguilar, via the Animus no doubt, the modern time-travelling device from the games. He will also get involved with modern Templar corporation Abstergo, with the head honcho played by none other than Jeremy Irons. Marion Cotillard and Brendan Gleeson are also on hand to provide excellent support, so expect this heavyweight cast to deliver when the film drops in December. All we need now is a trailer.

Directed by Justin Kurzel, Assassin’s Creed swoops into cinemas on December 21, 2016, in the U.S and December 26, 2016 for UK cinemagoers.

[Image via Assassin’s Creed wiki]