'Assassin's Creed' Movie a Go with Michael Fassbender in the Lead

He's been a special agent, a sex addict, a creepy android and Magneto; now Michael Fassbender will be taking on the role of a time-traveling assassin.

Ubisoft, creator of the "Assassin's Creed" series of video games, is working on putting together a movie adaptation with Sony. Ubisoft has apparently demanded a huge amount of control over creative aspects like script approval and casting, so the deal seems to be going a bit slowly, but one thing is settled: Michael Fassbender will produce and play the lead.

For those unfamiliar with the franchise, the "Assassin's Creed" games center on a modern-day regular Joe named Desmond who finds out that his ancestors were part of a long line of assassins with special abilities. Because of his familial connection to said ancestors, Desmond is able to re-live the past through their eyes via a machine called the Animus, which syncs him into the reconstructed memories of his ancestors. Think "The Matrix" mixed with a bit of "Inception."

Fassbender is a fine choice for the role, as he will most likely play both Desmond and whichever ancestor is chosen for the movie. The first game featured Altaïr, an assassin from 12th century Syria, while the subsequent, more popular trilogy of sequels featured Ezio, an assassin from Florence, Italy during the Renaissance. Fassbender has proven to be adept with accents and languages as evidenced by "Inglourious Basterds," so he could likely handle either just fine.

Meanwhile, the newest "Assassin's Creed" game is set to release in the near future, and is set in the American Revolution. So, assuming that the movie starts in the Middle East and then moves to Italy and later to America, this could be a reasonably successful franchise for Sony.