Hollywood confused by Ubisoft’s control over Assassin’s Creed film

It’s no secret that an ASSASSIN’S CREED movie is getting made, as it was recently announced that Sony had purchased the rights to release such a feature in the future.

What isn’t perhaps widely known is the incredible deal Sony struck with Ubisoft to make the film that’s completely unheard of in Hollywood. They gave the video game company final approval over the budget, the principal cast, the release date, the script, pretty much everything. Hollywood insiders are stunned by the deal according to NYMag.

Notes one incredulous insider, “As a director, even Steven Spielberg cannot get this kind of deal.” And yet it’s this very overarching power that may doom the project, as it has other gigantic video game movies. Notes one Hollywood talent agent who represents a smaller video game publisher, “The whole Ubisoft/Sony deal is a waste of ink, paper and time. The level of control Sony gave up means, effectively, that Assassin’s Creed will never — and I mean never — get made.”

Others are skeptical about Ubisoft, a video game company, knowing anything about what it takes to make a big budget Hollywood film.

“It’s [Ubisoft’s] billion-dollar brand, so I get that they’re protective,” says another head of a different studio that hung in longer than DreamWorks, but ultimately passed. The exec adds, “But they’re not moviemakers, and the only way to make sure it’s a bad movie is to undervalue what movie studios do — and this is a deal that totally undervalues what movie studios do.”

But hold on a minute, let’s stop and think about what happens when Hollywood takes over video game brands and “does what they do” to turn them into feature films. What we’ve received is an endless parade of absolutely HORRIBLE video game movies, with “not bad” being the highest honor one could receive.

Why not let a video game studio make their own movie for once? Lord knows Hollywood hasn’t been able to, and it’s a gamble that might pay off and completely change all future game-to-movie adaptations if it does.