It’s funny looking back now to 2016, when all – OK, some – of us had the thought in the back of our minds: Maybe that new “Assassin’s Creed” movie will break the curse of video game adaptations in Hollywood?
To be fair, the film had quite a few things going for it, including, but not limited to, an Oscar-nominated actor in Michael Fassbender; an enticing supporting cast touting Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, and Michael K. Williams; a director, Justin Kurzel, fresh off a modern-day “Macbeth” retelling that was well-received by critics; and the advantage of being inspired by an uber-popular video game franchise with a central conceit harkening back to the sand-and-sandals epics of old Hollywood with a modern twist.
Yet the Justin Kurzel-directed effort seemed to have vanished as fast as it arrived, garnering a less-than-favorable critical response and only grossing $54.6 million domestically. Magneto himself wasn’t enough to break the Hollywood video game adaptation curse.
Speaking to ScreenDaily while doing publicity for his new film, “True History of the Kelly Gang,” Kurzel touched on his experience with “Assassin’s Creed,” suggesting that the project never quite translated between mediums the way his team hoped…and the way most big-screen game adaptations don’t seem to, either.
“There are things about that film I’m proud of,” Kurzel said. “There’s a style and a vision to the film that a lot of people worked hard to achieve. But it was difficult, and its challenges always came back to the script. The film never really found its voice.”
With an estimated budget of $125 million, “Assassin’s Creed” was far and away the most expensive movie Kurzel had directed up to that point in this career – “True History of the Kelly Gang” is a return to the smaller-scale fare he’s used to – and that size is something he also acknowledged.
“‘Assassin’s Creed’ was huge for me, but fraught with difficulties in regard to the script and getting the project ready,” he said.
For what it’s worth, moviegoers have been kinder to films with origins on the video game console in the few years since the release of “Assassin’s Creed.” 2018’s “Tomb Raider” reboot, starring Alicia Vikander, was successful enough that a sequel is on the way, 2018’s “Rampage” sneakily reached the $100 million threshold and, with a $144 million box office haul, this summer’s “Pokemon: Detective Pikachu” beat out the Angelina Jolie-starring “Tomb Raider” from 2001 to take the crown of most successful video game adaptation of all time.
Fassbender walked so Pikachu could run, perhaps.
