Assassin’s Creed TV Show Happening
Assassin’s Creed is now the latest video game franchise to receive a television show, as Netflix and Ubisoft have announced they’re adapting the series.
This article is more than 2 years old
Assassin’s Creed is now the latest video game franchise to receive a television show, as Netflix and Ubisoft have announced they’re adapting the beloved series for the popular streaming service.
The Hollywood Reporter states that Ubisoft and Netflix will collaborate on a number of Assassin’s Creed properties, but the first will be a live-action series. The series is currently in early development, with the project still looking for a showrunner, although the @NXOnNetflix Twitter account did say that Jason Altman and Danielle Kreinik from Ubisoft will be executive producers on the project.
@NXonNetflix also shared a short teaser video to announce the collaboration, which Polygon says hints that the show might focus on the game’s Ezio trilogy, which started with 2009’s Assassin’s Creed 2, followed by 2010’s Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and 2011’s Assassin’s Creed Revelations. This would be a smart choice, since this trilogy is largely considered to be where Assassin’s Creed came into its own, and many fans believe Ezio’s story to be the highlight of the franchise.
Beyond this live-action series, Ubisoft and Netflix are expected to turn the source material into other live-action, animated and anime series in the future. While neither company mentions if future films would be part of this agreement, it doesn’t seem likely after 2016’s Assassin’s Creed film starring Michael Fassbender only earned $54 million domestically.
Ever since Netflix launched its popular Castlevania animated series in 2017, the streaming giant has been actively investing in other video game properties. Most notable of these has been The Witcher, which debuted in 2019, and already has Netflix working on a number of spinoffs over the next few years.
In addition to Assassin’s Creed, Netflix also has a Cuphead animated series in development for release next year and two different Resident Evil series in the works – one CGI, the other live-action.
Ubisoft’s Film and Television division has been active in trying to develop many of their video game properties into other media. In fact, Assassin’s Creed isn’t the first project between Netflix and Ubisoft. The animated series Rabbids Invasion has been on Netflix for four seasons, while a film based on Tom Clancy’s The Division, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain is also in the works.
Also announced earlier this year was an anime series based on the Splinter Cell franchise. Beyond these, Ubisoft’s Film and Television unit is working on films based on Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, Just Dance, and earlier this year, they produced Rob McElhenney’s Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet for Apple+.
Starting in 2007, the Assassin’s Creed franchise is Ubisoft’s best-selling franchise of all time, having sold over 155 million games. By comparison, that’s more units sold than Sonic the Hedgehog, Madden or Star Wars franchises. As previously mentioned, the series has already received a film, a popular novel series, comic book series, and its own board game. In a little over a decade, there have been over twenty-two different Assassin’s Creed games, with the twenty-third, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla set to be released on November 12.
With a large history of games already in place and a massive audience, Assassin’s Creed sounds like the perfect video game franchise for Netflix to adapt.
