Ubisoft heads to Hollywood

By Ryan Fleming May 2, 2011

If you want something done right, do it yourself. Such seems to be the message coming from French video game giant, Ubisoft. Not content to watch its properties either languish in the recesses of Hollywood studios that buy properties as often to avoid others having them as to actually make a movie from it, or to watch the lucky few properties make it all the way to the big screen be met with mixed reviews ala Prince of Persia, Ubisoft has decided to take matters into its own hands.

According to Variety, Ubisoft is in the process of launching Ubisoft Motion Pictures specifically to develop its own properties for TV and the cinema. The new division will be headquartered in Paris, and will be run by Jean-Julien Baronnet, the former CEO of Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp. Jean de Rivieres, former head of distribution for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures France will be in charge of marketing and international sales.

The decision is likely spurred on by last year’s Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, which went on the earn $355 million worldwide, a respectable number, but far short of the franchise building numbers that Disney had hoped to see when it dubbed the film “the new Pirates of the Caribbean.” It did, however, show Ubisoft that there was money to be made in film versions of its properties. The developer may also be further bolstered by the success of Marvel Entertainment, which has been on a roll adapting its properties to the big screen.

Besides the Prince of Persia series—which is likely now booby-trapped with myriad legal and rights issues—the developer is sitting on some of the most popular video game franchises of the last decade, including the Splinter Cell and Rainbow Six games (although those may be complicated by the Tom Clancy license), the FarCry series (already a terrible movie directed by Uwe Boll), and the Assassin’s Creed games, which almost certainly have the most potential to be translated to either film or television.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…

Gaming

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is big enough to justify its price tag

Sargon wields a sword in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

When I played an hour of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown earlier this summer, I thought I had a good handle on what to expect. I figured it would be a standard eight-hour Metroidvania that went heavier on combat and exploration than storytelling. I figured it would be a smaller release for Ubisoft, giving us a reprieve from its massive open-world games.

Boy, was I wrong.

Gaming

Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR turned me into a sociopath (and I love it)

Ezio sneaks up on a guard with a crossbow in Assassin's Creed Nexus VR.

I’ve done a lot of memorable things in VR this year. I’ve climbed mountains, commanded hundreds of tiny people, and even paddled through the seas in a kayak. With Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR, I get to add another virtual feat to that list: I’ve jumped down on top of an unsuspecting guard and plunged a hidden blade into his throat with pinpoint accuracy. And I’m a little worried about how delighted I am by that.

Ubisoft has been a long-time supporter of VR going back to early standouts like Eagle Flight, but Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR finds the publisher making its full leap of faith into the tech. It’s not another virtual “experience” based on one of its popular IPs, but rather a full-throated Assassin’s Creed game with just about everything you’d expect in its console counterpart. There’s sneaking, parkour, lock picking, pickpocketing, death-defying leaps, and even a wealth of collectibles hidden in small-scale recreations of historical locations. All that’s missing is the open-world glut -- and that’s arguably its best quality.

Gaming

Assassin’s Creed Mirage ending explained: What happens to Basim, Nehal, and Roshan

Basim showing off his hidden blade.

Assassins’ Creed Mirage is out now, bringing the series back to basics with a game focused on one of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s most intriguing characters. This adventure follows Basim as he goes from Anbar street thief to expert Assassin in Baghdad while hunting down members of The Order of the Ancients. As a prequel, there are some things about Basim as a character you might already know going in. Still, learning exactly how Basim stumbled upon these revelations is entertaining itself.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is shorter than other games in the series (at around 12 to 17 hours to complete), but most of the noteworthy reveals are saved for the story’s ending. If you want to know how Basim discovers who he truly is or just need to read a recap of the narrative’s major events, this is an overview of everything that happens in Assassin’s Creed Mirage and how it concludes in spectacular fashion.
How does Assassin’s Creed Mirage begin
Assassin’s Creed Mirage begins with a brief narration from modern-day Assassin Brotherhood Mentor William Miles. In the game’s only Animus-referencing narrative segment, he admits that he was worried people would learn the wrong lesson from Basim’s story. He now recognizes that his story “has much to teach us” and is now sharing it. He then sets the stage for its ninth-century Baghdad setting, the threat that is The Order of the Ancients, and Basim’s humble origins and eventual challenging of the Creed’s ideals.
This intro then transitions into a dream sequence for Basim, where a creepy jinni attacks him. Upon awakening, he’s comforted by his friend Nehal, and they set out to complete a contract for their friend Dervis in Anbar, a smaller city close to Baghdad. After pocketing some people and stealing a shipping ledger, Basim and Nehal learn that Dervis is working with a member of Hidden Ones named Roshan.
Roshan initially rejects Basim when he asks to come with her on a mission to retrieve a chest from the Caliph’s Winter Palace, but he and Nehal end up sneaking off and trying to get it anyway. Upon successfully infiltrating, they learn that the Caliph is working with The Order of the Ancients. They get to the chest and find a mysterious device inside it that gives him a vision of one man torturing another. The Caliph catches Basim doing this, and Nehal stabs and kills the Caliph.