For those frustrated with the increasingly lack of
originality in Hollywood, 2016 could prove to be a particularly difficult year to
swallow. Between its eight comic book adaptations, more than a handful of
reboots and reimagining's, who knows how many sequels, and two video game adaptations,
next year will be saturated with very well known names and properties, but
could two yet unproven titles distance themselves from the not particularly outstanding
history of the genre they belong to?
Next year, Hollywood will once again try to adapt a
video game, or video games, with Duncan Jones' fantasy epic, Warcraft, and
Justin Kurzel's Assassin's Creed, starring Michael Fassbender, Marion
Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, Michael K. Williams, and Ariane
Labed.
Speaking to Premiere, Jean-Julien Baronnet, the CEO of
Ubisoft Motion Pictures, offered some insight into Assassin's Creed, but also their
business model, which apparently starts with signing on an actor before they have
a script. (Pardon the French or in this case its mangled translation).
Usually in Hollywood, when you develop a big film, you
start with a script or studio …We did not do that. We said: “For each film, what is the
first decision that we have to take?” In Assassin’s Creed, it was obvious that
the first decision was the choice of the actor. Who is behind the assassin, who
will personify [him]? In Splinter Cell, the same thing, [who] is going to be
Sam Fisher? The obsession that we had was to find actors among the
best, if not the best.
So how have they
landed such big names like Fassbender or Tom Hardy (Splinter Cell)? Well apparently,
they offered the actors ample creative freedom, including the opportunity to
work closely with the writers in developing each franchise.
[Michael
Fassbender] accepted very quickly. And it was the only actor which we
thought was obvious. So we started with the actor, which is incongruous. Even
more incongruous, he engaged us with nothing. There was no script, no studio or
anything. We told him we were going to build the project together, we have a
huge brand and we want to make a make a film with references to feature films
like Batman Begins and Blade Runner. That is why we tend to. He was promised
that he could work with the writers, we would associate it with all key
creative choices.
Giving actors a say
in the creative choices of a project or franchise is not unheard of but it's
not common practice, only happening when said actor is also a producer.
However, Fassbender wasn't the only A-Lister Baronnet managed to charm with his speech of creative freedom.
Tom Hardy has also signed on to star in one of their upcoming movies, Splinter
Cell.
This is obviously
attractive for intelligent players like Michael Fassbender and Tom Hardy. It is
like a huge studio because it has huge brand, but it is a small structure. And
it will remain like that, you do not want to become bigger. Tom Hardy was also
evident on Splinter Cell. We had the same discussion and it is also committed
immediately. Tom is a gamer and he loves the world of Splinter Cell. We
worked a lot with him on the character.
Finally, Baronnet offered
to talk about how Ubisoft
Motion Pictures works, and revealed they are approaching what are considered big
studio movies with an indie mentality.
Our approach is to
remain in control of the development, so to finance it 100%. We choose writers
who are not necessarily stars but people who have understood the universe. And
as long as the script is not level, it will not launch. It has also worked very
closely with New Regency for Assassin’s Creed. We needed them for their
expertise. There was a kind of triptych between the actor, the studio and us.
It is the combination of the three who built this scenario. With arbitration
returning us as we fund. The beauty of being a small structure is that no
contingencies that lead us to release films in greenlighter quickly. It leaves
time to time to arrive at what it takes. Four
years of development for Assassin!
Assassin's Creed
opens on December 21, 2016, while Splinter Cell is still waiting for a release.
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