490°

Michael Fassbender never played the video game before signing on to Assassin’s Creed

Entertainment weekly:
Ubisoft’s historical fiction-action-adventure series Assassin’s Creed stands as one of the most popular video game franchises ever created, selling more than 73 million copies and spawning comic books, novels, animated short films, even its own hard-cover encyclopedia in addition to popularizing some 20 series-related titles.

Hoffmann3062d ago

Another video game movie adaption I won't watch.

-Foxtrot3062d ago (Edited 3062d ago )

But, but but...Michael Fassbender.

Don't you know one great actor apparently makes an entire film good now. You know according to some people on here.

retrogamer093062d ago

The director and the rest of the cast is really good, too.

-Foxtrot3062d ago

@retrogamer09

That doesn't really matter. Films can have great casts and even a good director but still be below average.

Prince of Persia had a good cast and director, still wasn't a good, faithful video game film.

ninsigma3062d ago

Prince of Persia was still a good enough movie in its own right though. And Gemma Arterton...Nuff said!

Problem is games don't always translate 1:1 for a movie and vice versa. There's generally more to a game than there is to a movie so to pack all of it in probably wouldn't work. Hence why we haven't had anyone really try to make a 1:1 adaption. It works the other way around too. Most games based off of movies aren't very good either.

-Foxtrot3062d ago (Edited 3062d ago )

@ninsigma

Not really. It was pretty lousy to be honest, the guy obviously hadn't played the games who wrote it and just based it off some quick footage he probably seen on Youtube.

"Gemma Arterton...Nuff said"

She's hot...and? Dosen't make the film better

She was playing Farah right...OH YEAH sorry I mean Tamina because they couldn't even get the name/character right.

"Problem is games don't always translate 1:1 for a movie"

Most can...especially ones we've had. Failed video game films like Doom, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, House of the Dead, Max Payne etc could be great films but the problem is they get lazy and don't do a proper adaptation.

It's hilarious because half of the concept for the film is done for you. The story, the characters, the twists, the tone, the settings, locations and so on. Why make it harder for yourself and try to come up with something different, just make a new film altogether if thats the case.

Like I've said 100 times, the reason why book adaptations do so well is because they stick to the source material as much as they can. Soon as you try making your own stories up you are going into the deep end where you will drown.

If you condense the game down, remove the gameplay section and plot points which are only added to prolong the game then it's totally possible to do a good, faithful adaptation.

kotaku773062d ago (Edited 3062d ago )

Prince of Persia was a faithful video game film, just not a good movie.

Hoffmann3062d ago

Don't you know one great actor apparently makes an entire film good now?

That's so ninetish

oasdada3062d ago

Who in their right mind is disagreeing with what you are saying? :S

-Foxtrot3062d ago (Edited 3062d ago )

@oasdada

People who seem to think Michael Fassbender is some sort of god who's own presence can automatically make a video game film good /s

Despite the fact they are straying away from the source material, THE NUMBER ONE THING every bloody video game film has done and what happens? They fail and fall right on their face. People know this but like always they get their hopes up and pretend everything is going to be fine because that's what they HOPE for, not actually be a realist and go "Well it has Fassbender in it but every video game film has either been between crap and below average...I think I may know the outcome here"

I think people are taking it to heart and also think it's an attack on the actor or something.

I just find it funny Ubisoft are using the "it's set in the same world as the games, just a different story" excuse to get away from why they didn't adapt Desmonds story but they still call the film "Assassins Creed" with no subtitle.

Eamon3062d ago

foxtrot, chill out mate.

ninsigma3062d ago

" It was pretty lousy to be honest"

We'll have to agree to disagree there. It wasn't any sort of ground breaking movie by any means but it was fun. And obviously I don't think she makes the movie good, just that she's a bonus ;)

Did you ever think there's a reason they haven't done a 1:1 adaption?? Maybe it's because it's not as easy as you think. You couldn't take say the cutscenes from uncharted and use those as the plot. Games and movies flow very differently and you can't just make one work for the other.

"the reason why book adaptations do so well is because they stick to the source material as much as they can"
I guess you haven't read Eragon then watched it's movie. Man that was damn awful. On the flip side hunger games and harry potter (not all the harry potters) did a good job of adapting the books to movies.

-Foxtrot3062d ago (Edited 3062d ago )

"Did you ever think there's a reason they haven't done a 1:1 adaption??"

Yeah because they are proud pricks who think they know how to do it when they can't

Then they hire screenwriters who have never played the games or like the franchise instead of taking a risk and look at drafts from up coming screenwriters or brand new ones altogether.

" You couldn't take say the cutscenes from uncharted and use those as the plot "

Are you kidding, course you can. I did this as part of my portfolio in University. We had to take something and adapt it into a transmedia world. It was supposed to be 10 pages, I did Uncharted and ended up doing 45 because it was easy. I literally followed the cutscenes, kept most of it in and the dialogue while creating brand new scenes where the gameplay was. I then removed small sections or merged them together.

For example when they ditch Elena I cut it to when they are walking in the Amazon (like the game) but instead of having the scene where Sully gets mad when they've found the spot but there is nothing there I changed it to when they arive outside the temple but he still gets mad because, like I put it "there's nothing here Nate, just a bunch of rubble and run down pillars. That aint worth horse shit kid". I merged the scenes and condensed it down because it would look silly to have them arrive in the spot, Sully getting mad only to walk a bit more and then they find the temple.

It's really not that hard.

"I guess you haven't read Eragon then watched it's movie"

Well I didn't say all of them but Eragon while bad is probably still more faithful then alot of these video game films we are getting and that's saying something.

Even the worst book to film adaptations are average at best.

Imagine if they did Harry Potter and changed it. Instead of meeting Ron it was some guy called Eddie Hitler and Ron was just a back up character who got killed off. Then he would have relationship with Hermione and Snape would be his real dad after having an affair with Lily....Imagine that....that's what Hollywood would probably to do to it if it was a video game.

die_fiend3061d ago

I wish Foxtrot left this site. Way too many comments of which are always complete drivel. No one agrees with you troll, find another group of people to irritate.

UltraNova3061d ago

@Foxtrot,

IMHO, Silent Hills was the only video game to film adaptation worth its price of admission. I mean they managed to portray Nightmare mode almost flawlessly. Plus the general atmosphere of the movie was spot on and the story resemble that of Sh 2 where the parent lost their child to Silent Hill.

Hell, they got Pyramid Head right!

3061d ago
+ Show (11) more repliesLast reply 3061d ago
Aloy-Boyfriend3062d ago (Edited 3062d ago )

Maybe all Video game movies should be CGI like FF VII Advent Children. I'm confident the Sly Cooper and R&C movie will do just fine because of it. Hollywood fks up video game movies all the time. Not sure how some think this will be any different, but it doesn't kill to wait and see either. Oh well... Hopefully it is as fun to watch Prince of Persia was at least

Zeref3061d ago

This is definitely not a good sign.

Bahamut3061d ago

Not a bad one either. A script's a script. Plenty of the cast of Lord of the Rings never read the book. Plenty of the cast of Game of Thrones have also never read the source material. Not playing the game changes nothing except the fact that the guy probably doesn't have time to sit around and play videogames.

extermin8or3061d ago

...... This film has the most hope of any live action game to film adaptation. Simply because the games cover many characters and storylines through various time periods. The games story's will all exist in the same universe as this one and ubisoft writers penned the storyline and they are meticulous with Assassins Creed's lore. This is set alongside the games so it having its own storyline makes perfect sense... And the headline is misleading Fassbender liked the premise so he signed on but has since played some of the games to get a feel for how the characters fight and move etc
Other than that it's set just after/during ezio's time I believe in Spain. And isn't this lynch guy referenced in several of the games?? (isn't he subject 16?)

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Derekvinyard133062d ago

Typical. I assume all these guys don't play the games before they sign on. Marky mark never played max Payne. I doubt gyllenhaal played prince of Persia. Olyphant and friend never played the hitman games. Shame because I like fassbender I think he's a great actor. But then again I'm not sure if you really need to play the whole assassin creed series to really get it, but I would never even think about going in blind if I was getting paid millions like he is.

extermin8or3061d ago

Tbf he said he has played some now

die_fiend3061d ago

Yeah completely believe that if someone offered u millions that you'd say 'no no, I simply must play the games first'. I totally buy that

FasterThanFTL13062d ago

That is fine since he is playing a totally different character from the games but the director needs to have played it to nail down the feel of Assassin's Creed games.

-Foxtrot3062d ago

If you read the characters description his character and his situation sounds almost exactly the same as Desmond.

So instead of just doing Desmond and Altair they decided to create something from scratch...I mean Ubisoft are actually more involved then any other developer with their video game films yet even they can't just do a straight up adaptation.

I'm betting aswell Aguilar will have a similar plot as Altair.

kneon3062d ago

If they were trying to appeal mainly to gamers, and specifically fans of the franchise, then they should try to stay true to the original games.

But the non-gamer audience is much bigger, so that is really their target. If they can write a better story than what is in the game then they should go for it.

extermin8or3061d ago

Well it's set in like fifteenth century Spain....so that'd be hard. It's being done so the games storyline exist in its universe, this is just another part of the story. Just like edward keyway, to arno, to the fry twins, to altar, to ezio to Connor and haytham...

Kalebninja3062d ago

hmmm, i would say this was worrying since the last cast that didnt study the source material was for fantastic 4 which tanked but, I dont think it matters since its not like he's trying to capture a specific character so it probably wont affect his performance at all.

Vhampir3061d ago (Edited 3061d ago )

Michael Gambon didn't read Harry Potter either, while Richard Harris did. Not many actors read source material, well many of them like to "make it their own" anyway. You just have to hope the director at least knows the material. Never forget Mario Brothers.

I doubt anyone will ever get a Fantastic Four that won't bomb, it's just too quirky.

neoandrew3062d ago (Edited 3062d ago )

Why would he? He is an actor that will play in a movie that has its own script, so actually it is good he didn't play any of the games, he can create something on his own, that is what he is the best at.

Liqu1d3062d ago

He played the games after signing on.

neoandrew3061d ago

So he decided as an actor that it can help him in the role.

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50°

XCOM's Jake Solomon Q&A - Building a Narrative-Driven Life Sim Game at Midsummer Studios

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The Big Inworld AI Q&A - 'Everyone in Gaming Sees the Potential of Generative AI'

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160°

Xbox President Sarah Bond's Bloomberg Interview Is Corporate Fakery At Its Best

Saad from eXputer: "After Arkane Austin & Tango were shutdown, Xbox President Sarah Bond spoke with Bloomberg in what I believe to be utter corporate fakery."

gold_drake1d 12h ago

im not really surprised by that, shes always been more a "let me talk about something else than what u want to know" kinda gal

Cacabunga1d 5h ago

If what they are doing is that good, what’s the point of hiding the true story?

anast1d 9h ago

She's a caricature of the shareholders.

PRIMORDUS1d 7h ago

"Shareholders" I call them cancer, they are already rich to begin with but need more and more. It's like a disease, with no cure.

__y2jb15h ago

If you have a pension then you are likely to be a shareholder in these big tech companies yourself. To demonize them as 'heartless rich people' shows you have no idea what you're talking about.

anast14h ago(Edited 14h ago)

@Y2

Of course, it isn't about that. You are attempting to set up a self-righteous strawman to stir up some kind of ignorant mob mentality.

And by the way, most everyone is a touch heartless or we wouldn't be able to consume the products we do knowing very well how they are made. People have to be this way because of self-preservation and convenience.

__y2jb11h ago

@anast please explain to me how what i said is self righteous or a strawman. I simply pointed out that categorizing all shareholders as cancer is ridiculous.

Leeroyw1d 5h ago

I own shares in game companies. I'm not anything near a major share holder. I just want them to make good games and be successful because of that. I think it's the senior management that's the problem. They are the ones that should be making it clear to the shareholders what creates growth and ensures a future of their business. Not this weasle words garbage that she did on the interview. It was horrific. I don't know a shareholder that would be happy with any of them for this.

Profchaos1d 4h ago (Edited 1d 4h ago )

Same and I'm not rich by any stretch like most people's I'm just trying to keep my head above water these days most company's shareholders are made up of everyday people it's amazing how companies think we want something but the reality is we don't.

Disney are probably the worse at the moment it's shareholders voted on ending a lot of the crap and outing the current execs the execs turned around and said no we disagree with the shareholder vote

PRIMORDUS23h ago

I meant at the rich fucks who have millions in the bank already. They are making so much per year, that if they don't make what they are expecting they go into a panic, when in reality it will not even hurt them at all. Those are greedy assholes.

anast14h ago

"you have a pension then you are likely to be a shareholder"

Pensioners don't make any decisions about anything. Obviously that is not what this is about.

CrimsonWing691d 9h ago

Yea, it was and it’s insulting that they think we’re dumb enough to fall for this. Look, the truth was you took a gamble on these studios and while they released some games to critical praise and great reception they just aren’t bringing in a ROI. Be transparent, you’re not a politician.

Just tell everyone you spend money on projects big and small and when money isn’t being made you go over the potential of revenue a studio can bring in vs those that can’t and make the hard decision to chop them.

She says this whole thing about “success” doesn’t fit one meaning for each studio. Well yea, a small budget production isn’t going to expect to sell the same as a large budget production.

One thing I wish they did though was let Tango be an independent studio.

TheGamingHounds1d 8h ago

disheartening to see no regard for the human cost of business anymore
the bad decisions and judgements of these CEOs severely impact the frontliners
these fake responses are just salt on wounds

RoadRacer1d 8h ago

imagine havin the audacity to say "we need more games like hifi rush" right after closing the studio that made it lol
followin up with this show of "deflecting every question" was in poor taste

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