Even if you’re not a fan of Michael Fassbender, you will still feel excited about 20th Century Fox‘s upcoming live-action adaptation of the popular video game series, “Assassin’s Creed“.
Th film, which reunites Fassbender with “Macbeth” director Justin Kurzel and co-star Marion Cotillard, is highly anticipated by many as Ubisoft Motion Pictures CEO Jean-Julien Baronnet previously compared it to “Batman Begins” and “Blade Runner“.
Whether or not the movie will live up to that description, a new official still from the movie is bound to get fans excited for what’s to come. Check out the new image below (via Entertainment Weekly):
As seen in the new photo, Fassbender is in his full assassin costume as Callum Lynch, a new character created specifically for the film. Lynch is also a modern day descendant of the 15th century Spanish Assassin Aguilar, a character which appeared in the original video game series. The photo shows him skulking about on a rooftop alongside co-star Ariane Labed, whose role has yet to be revealed and was supposed to be played by Alicia Vikander.
Fassbender told EW in a phone interview that he never played the game before signing on to play the lead role. However, he reassured video game fans that they will be getting the movie they deserve.
He said:
I hadn’t played it before these guys approached me. I’ve played it since mainly to get an idea of the physicality of the character. We’re striving to find something special. We believe the whole concept around it is special and want to service that the best we can.
“The fans are really passionate: very specific and they expect accuracy and historical detail. We’re really trying to capitalize and feed on and enjoy the fun element. We’re working hard to make this something special,” he added.
The “X-Men: Apocalypse” actor went on to describe that much of his character’s physicality does not “involve super powers or magic”. “A lot of the stuff in the game is Parkour,” he explained. “Blades attached to his wrists. It’s about getting in close to the target, close quarters fighting.”
Fassbender will be doing a lot of his own stunts in the film and he jokingly told EW that he “learned how to roly-poly, tumble turn”, before adding, “Stuff you can do in everyday life. Like cartwheels. No — just basic fight choreography stuff. I did some horse stuff today. So stuff like that.”
Co-financed by RatPac and Alpha Picture, “Assassin’s Creed” will be directed by Kurzel based on a script written by Bill Collage, Adam Cooper, and Michael Lesslie. Fassbender will produce the movie alongside Frank Marshall, Arnon Milchan, Jean-Julien Baronnet, Conor McCaughan, and Pat Crowley.
The film is currently shooting in Malta, London, and Spain. Besides Fassbender and Cotillard, “Assassin’s Creed” also stars Michael Kenneth Williams (of “12 Years a Slave” fame), Jeremy Irons (“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice“), and Brendan Gleeson.
“Assassins’ Creed” is due to be released on 21st December 2016.
