Netflix’s Assassin’s Creed: A Test for Game-to-Screen Adaptations

It’s been a long road to production for Assassin’s Creed, Netflix’s live-action series based on the popular Ubisoft video game franchise of the same name. After a recent reorganization and hiring process, the platform has officially confirmed that a first season is now in the works.

Netflix has named a pair of showrunners to take on the high-profile project. Roberto Patino (Sons of Anarchy, Westworld) and David Wiener (Halo, Fear the Walking Dead) will each take the reins on production. The former executive producer on The Boys 3 will focus on the project, while the Halo showrunner will be an executive producer.

In a statement shared with The Wrap, both creators got emotional about working on their new series.

“We have been fans of Assassin’s Creed since the series’ debut in 2007. Every day we work on this show, we are amazed at the size of the world and the richness of the stories it affords,” the duo began. “Underneath the epic action and adventure, it’s a very human story about self and purpose, faith and humanity, and what it means to be connected to another person across centuries.”

Patino and Wiener also shared how, at its heart, the series aims to ground itself in human drama, while still offering up that secret-history excitement that fans of the franchise have come to love.

“We are especially proud to work on a story that is at its core about the importance of connecting to another human being in the face of forces that would tear us apart,” they continued. “We’re humbled by the trust Ubisoft has in our team and the support we’re receiving from Netflix. We look forward to telling a story that fans will embrace and cherish.”

It’s Been a Long Time Coming

Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed franchise first debuted back in 2007, offering players the opportunity to control a character during the Crusades in the Holy Land. However, the real turning point for the Assassin’s Creed series was when it introduced its Italian Renaissance trilogy: Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.

The massively popular series has now produced 14 core games over the past 18 years, including Assassin’s Creed: Origins and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, among others. Over the years, games have covered locales such as Revolutionary America, Renaissance Italy, the Caribbean, Colonial India, Victorian London, Egypt, Ancient Greece, Medieval France, and Viking-age Britain, among others.

Gameplay for Assassin’s Creed titles has also evolved to become more in line with a big-budget open-world RPG. The latest title, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, is set in feudal Japan and was well received critically, in part due to Ubisoft’s decision to delay its release to give the game more development time.

There are currently no details on what can be expected from the show or the story it will tell. Patino and Wiener have yet to offer additional comments on which elements of the games they’re working with will be used in the series.

Fans can at least expect the series to take a similar basic concept from the games. In the games, modern-day people use genetic memory technology to relive the memories of their ancestors and are thrust into the Assassin-Templar conflict in many different periods.

Last Attempt Didn’t Go Well

This is not the first time the franchise has been adapted into a live-action project. An Assassin’s Creed movie starring Michael Fassbender and in theaters in 2016 was largely seen as a failure by audiences, despite a fairly decent performance at the box office.

It remains to be seen if the Netflix series will make any sort of connection with that film, although most reports indicate a clean slate.

Fans are cautiously optimistic that Assassin’s Creed will have a better experience on the streaming service, which has been investing in both speculative and high-quality genre storytelling. In particular, it’s looking to build out shows in the fantasy and science fiction corners of the entertainment space.

Acclimation for those genres has certainly hit a high point, but there are unique challenges to any adaptation process for games that have built out such unique world-building and stories as Assassin’s Creed. While there is tremendous potential for drama in any attempt to turn Assassin’s Creed into a show, the mythology of the series is massive.

On top of an overarching modern-day story that links all of the historical adventures together, players have also seen an expansive conflict involving Assassins and Templars. With so many facets to include and such a large number of protagonists (and high-profile ones, at that), series creators will have to be creative to give fans what they want.

It’s also likely that some changes from the games are on the horizon for the show, as the direct adaptation approach was used with a similar complex universe (Dune) this year, with excellent results. Netflix and the team leading Assassin’s Creed have the advantage of an existing popular fan base, as well as having the ability to look at how other recent shows have performed to find the right mix of elements.

So, while fans have to remain patient for some solid information on when production will begin in earnest and what players can expect, at the very least, the development team can take comfort in the fact that the first season is officially going into production. If they can figure out how to tell a story that works with the complexity of Assassin’s Creed, there’s an excellent chance it could be the next big show on Netflix.