While it looks like the Assassin’s Creed movie is sticking to most of the stealthy rules of the franchise - hood, check, blades, check - one thing that was immediately different in the trailer was Abstergo’s Animus. If you don’t speak fluent Assassin, that’s the device that Michael Fassbender’s Callum Lynch gets strapped into to relive the memories of his 15th century ancestor Aguilar. Instead of just being a minimalist sofa like in the games, the movie has an enormous animatronic claw. But why?
The answer is simple. Lying down on what looks like a new purchase from Ikea understandably just wasn’t cinematic enough. “For ages, we were like, ‘What are we going to do with the Animus?’” Michael Fassbender says in an interview in the new issue of Total Film magazine - on sale now. “At one point I thought of this idea where we’d be in a fluid tank, almost like a womb. But what the guys came up with is fantastic. Ubisoft are talking about putting it in their future games.”
When I spoke to ex Ubi Motion Pictures head, Jean-Julien Baronnet last year, he too teased that the development teams were excited after a set visit and were keen to bring some new lore across to the games. “I can tell you that the Assassin’s Creed team came on set and when they saw some stuff they were very inspired,” he said.
“I’m sure we’ll have some bridge from the movie to the game, but it’s their decision but I think they really liked it.” The sofa Fassbender’s Lynch wakes up on in the trailer looks a lot like the version of the Animus in the games so there’s still a nod and a wink there. It’ll be interesting to see what next year’s Creed project has in store. A year’s break and a movie to compete with might bring us something just a little bit different. Oh, and did I mention that all the Assassin's Creed movie's historical sequences are in Spanish?
You can read the rest of the interview with Michael Fassbender along with director Justin Kurzel, Marion Cotillard, and Jeremy Irons in an exclusive Assassin’s Creed feature in the new issue of Total Film magazine. Pick up the new issue out on Friday or subscribe so you never miss an issue.
