The stink of the 2016 Assassin’s Creed movie has nearly worn off, so Ubisoft is ready for more. Today the company announced a Netflix series adaptation of the franchise has officially been greenlit.
It’s been five years since Ubisoft and Netflix entered into an agreement to produce something based on the hugely popular game series, so it’s been a long time coming. But with two showrunners revealed, the hype must be tempered.
Roberto Patino and David Wiener will be creators, showrunners, and executive producers on the series. If those names don’t ring a bell, don’t worry. Well, yes, worry, because Mr. Wiener was one of the minds behind the tragic Halo series. He also worked on Homecoming and The Killing, so he has some successes under his belt, but man, please don’t harpoon another video game adaptation.
“We’ve been fans of Assassin’s Creed since its release in 2007,” Wiener and Patino said in a joint statement. “Every day we work on this show, we come away excited and humbled by the possibilities that Assassin’s Creed opens to us. Beneath the scope, the spectacle, the parkour and the thrills is a baseline for the most essential kind of human story – about people searching for purpose, struggling with questions of identity and destiny and faith. It is about power and violence and sex and greed and vengeance. But more than anything, this is a show about the value of human connection, across cultures, across time. And it’s about what we stand to lose as a species, when those connections break. We’ve got an amazing team behind us with the folks at Ubisoft and our champions at Netflix, and we’re committed to creating something undeniable for fans all over the planet.”
Patino previously worked on shows like DMZ, Westworld, and Sons of Anarchy, so the duo’s mileage may vary when it comes to their past. Either way, I think it’s fair for everyone to be skeptical of what’s to come.
“We are so excited to work alongside Roberto, David, and our Netflix partners to bring this beloved franchise to series,” said Margaret Boykin, executive producer and head of content at Ubisoft Film & Television. “We look forward to delivering an experience that speaks to the heart of what fans love about Assassin’s Creed, while introducing its unforgettable worlds and timeless themes to new audiences worldwide.”
To think positively for a second, we’ve seen a number of very strong game adaptations into series of late, with shows like Fallout and The Last of Us being big examples, along with some others like Arcane and Castlevania as some popular animated series at Netflix. But this one will be live action, so hopefully the company can find some success in that realm too.
Video game adaptations are always a tough nut to crack. Do you expand on the world built by the games? Do you build your own world mildly inspired by it? Do you just throw away the source material and make something as Hollywood as possible? We’ve seen it all.
There’s no timetable for the Assassin’s Creed series’ release, but it’s likely several years away from hitting TV screens.
