The long-awaited Assassin's Creed movie is finally moving ahead, with Ubisoft revealing the film has officially entered production. The video game adaptation will be released on December 21, 2016.
Word of the production came from the most mundane of places though—Ubisoft's quarterly financial call. The publisher is co-producing the film with studio New Regency, which has had a golden period in recent years with films such as 12 Years a Slave, Birdman, and Gone Girl under its umbrella.
"We have the pleasure to announce today that the green light has been given by New Regency, and the production has already started," said Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot. "This is a very important milestone for the project and for our team on Assassin's Creed."
The Assassin's Creed film has been in development since at least 2011 when Ubisoft formed its Ubisoft Motion Pictures division, allowing it to maintain creative control over its properties. Michael Fassbender has long been attached as both lead actor and producer, with Justin Kurzel set to direct, and Adam Cooper and Bill Collage having written the most recent screenplay.
Actual plot details are still unconfirmed, other than being a loose adaptation of the first game in the franchise. With the series' lore centred on people in the present reliving their ancestor's genetic memories, Fassbender is set to play a dual role in the film as both a member of the Assassin Brotherhood in the past and his own descendent.
The film's release date is only one week after the first of the Star Wars spin-off movies, directed byGodzilla's Gareth Edwards. The track record for video game movies isn't great, so Ubisoft and all involved will want to get this absolutely perfect before going up against the might of the Empire.
This story originally appeared on WIRED UK.
