This year will see two major attempts to break the rather indomitable curse of the video game adaptation. We'll soon see what Duncan Jones has done with Warcraft, the tremendously popular computer game, mining similar terrain as Lord of the Rings and other fantasy epics. Considering Jones' excellent first two features, there's plenty of hope for the film, which hits theaters on June 10th, but eyes are already set on the next big video game adaptation, namely Justin Kurzel's take on Assassin's Creed, with Michael Fassbender in the lead role.
Omelete premiered three new images from the film today and though they don't reveal all that much about the plot (thankfully), they do continue to stress the dark, naturalistic tone of Kurzel's film, which is in line with his excellent breakout film, The Snowtown Murders, and his adaptation of Macbeth. We've yet to get a good look at his co-stars, such as Michael Kenneth Williams, Marion Cotillard, Brendan Gleeson, and Jeremy Irons, but the film will clearly be made on Kurzel and Fassbender's back, considering the narrative thrust of the video game.
In the role of Callum Lynch (and Aguilar), Fassbender is stepping into a pretty major action role, even more physically exhausting than his work in the X-Men movies. As the fight imagery and still of his character in jail suggest, Kurzel is not going for a particularly colorful production but rather a grim vision of both worlds that will be explored in the film. Here's hoping it's better than that Super Mario debacle.
Assassin's Creed is out in theaters nationwide on December 21st.
Here's the three new images from Assassin's Creed via Omelete:
Here's the official synopsis for the film:
Through a revolutionary technology that unlocks his genetic memories, Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) experiences the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar, in 15th Century Spain. Callum discovers he is descended from a mysterious secret society, the Assassins, and amasses incredible knowledge and skills to take on the oppressive and powerful Templar organization in the present day.
