Of course you can pre-order Assassin's Creed movie tickets and there's a $1200 crossbow option

There's no Assassin's Creed this year but that clearly isn't stopping Ubi's pre-order culture. The Assassin's Creed movie 'presale' has been announced on the Ubi Blog which includes a $1200 cinema ticket option with an ultra-limited edition crossbow replica. Yep, cinema ticket pre-ordering has begun before the December 21 release date in the USA (December 26 for those of us on the UK side of the pond).

I mean, the crossbow itself is clearly lovely and all - created by Hollywood prop designer Tim Wildgoose and limited to only 20 pieces - but $1200 for this and a cinema ticket is quite the price for date night. In terms of its design, the crossbow is beautifully ornate and ties in nicely with Aguilar's medieval Spanish ways but I can't quite get over the decision to make Collector's Edition cinema tickets.

The crossbow is the most expensive of the various presale options which all include a ticket to see the movie, a digital copy of the script to be delivered on release day and access to behind the scenes info. Other options include a $500 Aguilar statue from prop pros Triforce and, at a better price, the $60 dollar hidden blade replica used in the movie.

Given that we've not seen Fassbender's wrist wear before, it's good to get Eagle vision on Aguilar's version of the sneaky stabber. Much like the crossbow, it's very ornate and there's some serious gold going on. No rope launcher or built in crossbow here, just some little bits of sparkle. The merch blades have been made by a few companies but Mcfarlane, the company who was responsible for Black Flag's hidden blade, is on replica duties this time around. As long as it has a lock button, I'm happy. Yes, even a plastic spring loaded blade really hurts if it hits your palm.

Other offerings include a $100 hoodie, a T-Shirt and a bizarre $15 collector's LED watch pack with temporary tattoos. Yes, it looks like something you'd get out of an Assassin's Lucky Bag - look at it below - but hey there's a cinema ticket included. This is all available through Kernel where the watch and tee packs are both on limited time offers. If none of these appeal and you're happy to wait, check out our new exclusive screen of Fassbender's present day character Callum Lynch.

Directed by Justin Kurzel, and starring Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson and Michael K. Williams, Assassin’s Creed opens in US cinemas on December 21, 2016, before hitting the UK on 26 December.

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Louise Blain is a journalist and broadcaster specialising in gaming, technology, and entertainment. She is the presenter of BBC Radio 3’s monthly Sound of Gaming show and has a weekly consumer tech slot on BBC Radio Scotland. She can also be found on BBC Radio 4, BBC Five Live, Netflix UK's YouTube Channel, and on The Evolution of Horror podcast. As well as her work on GamesRadar, Louise writes for NME, T3, and TechRadar. When she’s not working, you can probably find her watching horror movies or playing an Assassin’s Creed game and getting distracted by Photo Mode.