Ubisoft Motion Pictures is starting to plan a trio of films which is to include adaptations of Watch Dogs, Far Cry and Rayman spin-off Rabbids.
The films, according to a Variety exclusive, will have Ubisoft maintaing creative control under the direction of Ubisoft Motion Pictures CEO Jean-Julien Baronnet, through its own hiring of screenwriters, directors, cast, production shingles choices and potential studios. Financing of scripts may also be handled by Ubisoft.
"No one can tell us you have to do the movie a certain way," said Baronnet. "These are not adaptations; we will create a brand new story."
Far Cry and Rabbids have already established themselves as viable franchises for Ubisoft. However, Watch Dogs won't see a release until Nov. 19. Since it's reveal last year, Watch Dogs has gone into being one of the most hyped upcoming releases in Ubisoft's release schedule. Rabbids will be a live action film featuring the titler creatures in CG like The Smurfs and Alvin and The Chipmunks. Uwe Boll directed a film adaptation of Far Cry in 2008 staring Inglorious Basteds star Til Schweiger that was a critical and commercially failure.
The film division of the huge French publisher already has three films in the works including adaptations of Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell at New Regency along with the Michael Bay developed Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon with Warner Brothers. Frank Marshall and Basil Iwanky are to serve as producers of Frank Marshall and Basil Iwanky are to serve as producers of both Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell.
From the looks of things, Assassin's Creed may be the closest to seeing the silver screen with a May 22, 2015 release reports say. Prometheus actor Michael Fassbender has been confirmed to star and co-produce the film through his DMC Film production company.
Ubisoft's Motion Pictures will work with its own game studios to make sure there's no overlap between the games and films for better marketing potential.