Assassin's Creed (film)

Assassin's Creed is a 2016 science fiction action film directed by Justin Kurzel, based on the video game series by Ubisoft. It stars Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, Charlotte Rampling and Michael K. Williams. The film is set in the same universe as the video games but features an original story. The plot revolves around Callum "Cal" Lynch (Fassbender), who is abducted by the Abstergo Foundation because of his heritage. Cal's ancestor, Aguilar de Nerha, was a member of the Assassin Brotherhood active during the Spanish Inquisition in the late 15th-century, who swore to protect the Apple of Eden, an artifact believed to contain the key to humanity's free will. Cal must accept his Assassin heritage and stop Abstergo, the Templar Order of the modern-day, from finding the Apple and using it to enslave humanity.

A film adaptation of Assassin's Creed was announced in October 2011. Fassbender joined the project in July 2012 and in January 2013, Michael Lesslie was hired to write the screenplay. In April 2014, Adam Cooper and Bill Collage were hired to rewrite the script, while Kurzel was in talks to direct. The remaining cast were hired between February and early August of 2015. Principal photography began in late August 2015 and concluded in January 2016.

Assassin's Creed premiered at the AMC Empire 25 in New York City on December 13, 2016, and was released in the United States on December 21, and in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2017, by 20th Century Fox. The film received generally negative reviews from critics, and underperformed at the box-office, grossing $241 million against a $125 million budget. A sequel was planned, but due to the film's negative reception and disappointing box-office result, it was cancelled.