It's a good time to be Ubisoft. Not only are they continuing to put out highly-anticipated video games like Watch_Dogs , they're also shaping up to be the video game equivalent of Marvel Studios. Last week, Tom Hardy's Splinter Cell adaptation signed Academy Award nominated writer Sheldon Turner, making a lot of noise for a project that was once written off as a neat teaser trailer. Now, Deadline has the scoop again, this time reporting that writers Adam Cooper and Bill Collage have been brought on to re-write the Michael Fassbender produced adaptation of Assassin's Creed.
People can't be blamed for not recognizing those names, but after doing some research it's clear why these guys could be good fits for the franchise. Scripts for Ridley Scott's Exodus: Gods and Kings , Darren Aronofsky's The General, and Jerry Bruckheimer's Shake are all listed as upcoming credits. These titles suggest this writing team has a flair for the historical, with room for disaster movie-style action (Guess which project is which). Cooper and Collage's actual worth to the project will be measured at a later date, as the earliest of those films mentioned will be released this December.
It's a good sign that Ubisoft's camp is making the wise move of hiring writers that either have award winning clout in their past or a lot of buzzing potential in their future. With a firm grip on the rights to their intellectual properties, and writers they can believe in, it looks like the days of berating those who decide to make a video game movies in Hollywood are coming to a close. If this succeeds, expect more businesses to try and maintain the rights to their own properties. The days of licensing your franchise out might be dwindling. At this rate, what's to stop Nintendo from creating a new Super Mario Brothers theatrical franchise? It's just a hypothetical situation, but we advise our more sensitive readers to hide behind their sofas safely while we provide the a look at the trailer for the infamous Super Mario Bros. movie.
And to think, Ubisoft took their first steps towards Hollywood stardom with short films also based off of their own properties. Below is the Assassin's Creed film they produced, Lineage. The feature version of the game is scheduled for an August 7th, 2015 release date, making a big part of an already crowded summer.
