Netflix’s Assassin’s Creed adaptation – which was first announced in 2020 – is finally moving forward.
The long-in-the-works adaptation based on Ubisoft’s games is being helmed by Roberto Patino and David Wiener, who will serve as creators, showrunners, and executive producers on the show.
“We’ve been fans of Assassin’s Creed since its release in 2007,” Wiener and Patino told Variety. “Every day we work on this show, we come away excited and humbled by the possibilities that Assassin’s Creed opens to us. 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.”
Continuing, the duo said Assassin’s Creed is “about power and violence and sex and greed and vengeance”, but above all that “this is a show about the value of human connection, across cultures, across time” and “what we stand to lose as a species, when those connections break”.
Said Wiener and Patino: “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.”
According to the official blurb for Netflix’s take on Assassin’s Creed, the series will be “centered on the secret war between two shadowy factions – one set on determining mankind’s future through control and manipulation, while the other fights to preserve free will. The series follows its characters across pivotal historical events as they battle to shape humanity’s destiny”. That all sounds suitably Assassin’s Creed-y.
In addition to Wiener and Patino, Gerard Guillemot, Margaret Boykin and Austin Dill of Ubisoft Film and Television will serve as executive producers for the Assassin’s Creed series along with Matt O’Toole.
“We are so excited to work alongside Roberto, David, and our Netflix partners to bring this beloved franchise to series,” said Boykin. “We look forward to delivering an experience that speaks to the heart of what fans love about Assassin’s Creed, while introducing its unforgettable worlds and timeless themes to new audiences worldwide.”
Once upon a time, Die Hard writer Jeb Stuart was attached to Netflix’s Assassin’s Creed project. However, in 2023, Stuart stepped away from the series due to differing visions between himself and the show’s executives.
Meanwhile, an Assassin’s Creed anime was announced by Netflix in 2017 from Adi Shankar, creator of the popular Castlevania animated series. However, the project ultimately failed to materialise.