Assassin’s Creed (TFX): what is the difference between the film and the video game?

Dizzying stunts, journeys through the ages, blade blows well felt in the jugular… Since 2007, the cult video game franchise Assassin’s Creed continues to thrill gamers. Ubisoft’s baby thus totals 200 million copies sold worldwide for a dozen games produced. Building on this immense popularity, the license was brought to the big screen in 2016 with the release ofAssassin’s Creed, airing this Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 9 p.m. on TFX, and currently available on Disney +. Michael Fassbender, husband of Alicia Vikander, lends his features to Callum Lynch alias Aguilar de Nerha, an assassin with a very sharp blade! Marion Cotillard and Jeremy Irons complete the cast.

Assassin’s Creed: Time Travel

Callum Lynch evolves in a universe where two mysterious organizations with opposing ideals are confronted. On the one hand, the Assassins of which he is a descendant, defend the free will of individuals. On the other, the Templars who want to establish their domination over the world by guiding the populations on the way thanks to the fragments of Eden, magical artifacts created by an ancestral civilization. In the 21st century, our hero is thus used by the company Abstergo Industries, under the yoke of the Templars, to find The Apple of Eden. From the Animus, a machine capable of accessing genetic memories and reliving each historical event, Callum Lynch finds himself immersed in 1492, in inquisitorial Spain, through his ancestor Aguilar de Nerha. In Andalusia, the Catholic King Ferdinand V is trying to drive the Muslims out of the Iberian Peninsula, which they have ruled since 756.

Assassin’s Creed : a difference with the video game

In general, the movie Assassin’s Creed faithfully follows the narrative framework of the first game, released in 2007. On the other hand, the production did not hesitate to move away from its video game counterpart concerning the chosen historical period. If players were able to marvel at the adventures of Ezio Auditore in Florence and Rome, or more recently, those of Eivor among the Vikings in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the era of inquisitorial Spain remains a novelty brought by the feature film, as well as the main character, Callum Lynch, unknown to fans of the franchise. A voluntary artistic and narrative bias on the part of Ubisoft, which notably wished to address a wider audience to make video games known and increase sales. “We’re not going to make a lot of money from Assassin’s Creed. It’s more a question of marketing and it’s good for the image of the brand. Even if we make money, that’s not the point of this movie“, declared Alain Corre, the European boss of Ubisoft, shortly before the release of the film in 2016. “The goal is to make Assassin’s Creed known to even more people. We have our core fanbase, but we would like to put even more people in front of this franchise, before offering them future Assassin’s Creed games.” he continues according to the Pop Point. Eventually, the fiction enjoyed moderate success. In France, 1.8 million spectators rushed into dark rooms to watch the spectacular stunts of the Assassin. Internationally, the adventures of Callum Lynch and Aguilar de Nerha generated 240 million dollars for an initial budget of 125 million dollars.