Michael Fassbender has been attached to produce and star for some time, but Assassin's Creed still doesn't have a director. That may be about to change, however. It's far from a done deal, but the often reliable Twitch are reportedly hearing "persistent talk" that 20th Century Fox have a name in the frame for the stealthy videogame adaptation. According to the intel, the studio's own Animus has homed in on Daniel Espinosa.
Espinosa previously made the international hit Snabba Cash, followed by his mainstream debut Safe House, with Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington. Most recently he's been at work on Child 44, based on Tom Rob Smith's novel and sporting the pitch-hitting cast of Tom Hardy, Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Noomi Rapace and Vincent Cassel. Ridley Scott is among the producers.
In short, his is becoming an increasingly safe pair of hands where real-world thrillers are concerned. The historical parkour fantasy and sci-fi elements of Assassin's Creed would be new territory for him. But with a history of mixing believable action and smart drama, he could be just the director to prevent this becoming just another Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time.
Last we heard (a year ago), British playwrite Michael Lesslie was at work on the screenplay. How faithful an adaptation he's hammered out remains to be seen, but if it remains close to the game, the film will involve Fassbender being kidnapped by a secret organisation, who force him to experience the memories of his assassin ancestors and send him on missions to locate artefacts that can control mankind.
Slower into production than anticipated, the studio hoped to get started last summer. They'll need to get a move on if they're to meet the current release date of August 6, 2015. Espinosa's Child 44 is currently in post-production and due sometime this year.