Netflix Adapting Major Video Game Series That Once Bombed at the Box Office

Netflix will bring to life one of the most popular video game franchises, hoping at a chance of redeeming the series from another failed live-action attempt. Video games adaptations are more or less the new superhero movie. It’s an entire medium filled with rich stories and worlds that haven’t been taken advantage of in film or television. It’s a genre that had a lot of failures over the years with bad movies that either got totally mangled somewhere along the way or just didn’t resonate much with fans. However, it seems like Hollywood has figured it out in recent years, partially by leaning more on the game creators to help them adapt these things.

With that said, Netflix is making a live-action Assassin’s Creed TV series. The show has been in some form of development for at least 5 years, as Netflix and Ubisoft announced a collection of projects back in 2020, largely focused on Assassin’s Creed. However, developments on the project have been painfully quiet and slow for fans. Ubisoft has also managed to develop a Splinter Cell anime series in that time as well. With that said, it looks like it’s finally moving forward and fans will get to see a new live-action Assassin’s Creed project very soon.

Live-Action Assassin’s Creed Series Moves Forward at Netflix

Roberto Patino (Westworld, Sons of Anarchy) and David Wiener (Halo, Homecoming) have been announced as the showrunners for Netflix’s Assassin’s Creed. The series has officially been greenlit and ordered for a series, but it’s unclear if all of the scripts have been written. Regardless, it’s likely Netflix will move fast to bring the series to life. The pair noted they’ve been fans since the series began and are excited to tell a story in that universe, though it’s unclear if it’ll be a new one or one from the games. Given Assassin’s Creed has benefited from being an anthology series, it wouldn’t be shocking if it was a new story that crossed over with characters from the games.

“We’ve been fans of Assassin’s Creed since its release in 2007. Every day we work on this show, we come away excited and humbled by the possibilities that Assassin’s Creed opens to us,” said Wiener and Patino in a joint statement. “Beneath the scope, the spectacle, the parkour and the thrills is a baseline for the most essential kind of human story – about people searching for purpose, struggling with questions of identity and destiny and faith. It is about power and violence and sex and greed and vengeance.

“But more than anything, this is a show about the value of human connection, across cultures, across time. And it’s about what we stand to lose as a species, when those connections break. We’ve got an amazing team behind us with the folks at Ubisoft and our champions at Netflix, and we’re committed to creating something undeniable for fans all over the planet.”

As already noted, there was an Assassin’s Creed live-action movie just over a decade ago. Unfortunately, it was pretty messy and bombed at the box office. It was a new story set in that universe and although it had some good ideas, it was confined to a PG-13 rating which didn’t jive with the tone of the games. Hopefully, this show can rectify where that movie went wrong and give us a story that fans will love.

More Assassin’s Creed games are also on the way, including a rumored remake of Assassin’s Creed 4. It’s unclear when the next game will release, but some have speculated that remake of 4 is just around the corner. It’s likely the next mainline Assassin’s Creed game will hit next fall, given the recent release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

What do you want to see in a live-action Assassin’s Creed show? Let me know in the comments.