The Michael Fassbender-starring Assassin's Creed film that came out last year was, in our estimation, "a joyless retread of old ideas." Not terrible, exactly; just "a bargain bin collection of lights and noise and punching" that ultimately "does nothing to change or elevate the series whatsoever." And we weren't the only ones to say so: It currently holds a paltry 36/100 aggregate ranking on Metacritic. So Ubisoft, naturally, is going ahead with a television series.
There's been no official announcement and it may not even be in production yet, but Aymar Azaizia, the head of content for Assassin's Creed, effectively confirmed the "TV Show project" yesterday in a Reddit AMA. "It's like the movie guys, we will take our time, to get sure we deliver something we can be proud of, but if you wander [sic] if it's on our plan... YES," he wrote.
Given how the movie worked out, I'm not sure it's really the sort of foundational touchstone that Azaizia sees it as. But it's possible that the wheels were turning on this plan before film critics dropped the hammer: Reuters reported last year that Ubisoft was in talks with Netflix about a series, although there was no indication at the time (nor is there now) that it would be based on Assassin's Creed.
It does, however, fit with Ubisoft's multi-media model: The publisher's love for live-action recently made itself known in shape of the Ghost Recon Wildlands: War Within the Cartel short released in February on Amazon Video, and it's also making a documentary about the real-life Bolivian drug trade that serves as Wildlands' backdrop. The Division is being made into a film, too. Despite seemingly being on life support itself.
