Adapt Or Die

Michael Fassbender and Justin Kurzel, the Duo Behind Assassin's Creed, Think They've Finally Found the Secret to a Great Video-game Adaptation: Treat It Like Shakespeare.

- Nev Pierce

JUSTIN KURZEL HAS DONE HIS BACK IN.

Damaged a disc. It’s October 2016, and the 42- year-old Australian behind last year’s acclaimed take eonMacbeth is deep into post-production on his follow-up, a project so intense it has led to him popping painkillers. The film that is demanding such fearsome dedication? Well, it’s not a fresh spin on The Tempest. . Instead, it’s an adaptation of a video-game franchise about a parkouring hitman: Assassin’s Creed. The Ubisoft series has sold 93 million copies and counting. It blends science-fiction with historical fact, engulfing you in a worldwide conspiracy while allowing you to jump off tall buildings and skewer enemies with wrist-mounted blades. And this big-screen version has a lot riding on it. Not only do all involved hope it will be a franchise-launcher; if it works it’ll also be the first film based on a video game to, well, not suck.

“You want to have the DNA of the game experience,” says the quietly spoken, thoughtful Kurzel of his new film, as he sips a Coke in the air-conditioned environs of a London hotel. “But you want it to feel like a piece of cinema. You want to feel, ‘This is real. This existed.’”

Which is all very admirable, but this still isn’t really what you’d expect from a director steeped in Shakespeare, or from someone who made his big-screen debut with intensely disturbing Australian serial-killer true story Snowtown. Except, well... while you can be sure Assassin’s Creed will be a good deal more fun, it too deals in intriguing ideas of destiny, character and the history of violence. It’s all in the blood.