When Marvel Studios announced its "phase two," most of the company's "phase one" films were already in theaters. There was a proven track record, so audiences had a good idea of what the studio was doing with its characters.
Game publisher Ubisoft has been taking control of game-to-film adaptations featuring its many popular properties, with a "phase one" that includes Assassin's Creed produced by and starring Michael Fassbender, Splinter Cell with Tom Hardy, and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon developed by Michael Bay. It's a great slate, and now the company is announcing the development of "phase two," with films based on the Far Cry, Watch Dogs, and Rabbids games.
Trouble is, none of those phase one films actually exist just yet. Ubisoft clearly has big plans, and is relishing the control over its properties. Six films in development is a lot. Can the company deliver, or is the "active overseer" role perfect to make sure that the films happen, but in a way that will be true to the games?
Variety reports the three new announcements, though we've known for a while that Rabbids was going to get some sort of life on television. The report says that Ubisoft's film division, "under the direction of UMP CEO Jean-Julien Baronnet, will hire screenwriters, directors, cast and choose the production shingles and studios it wants to work with. Ubisoft will finance the development of the scripts." That's how it has been working with the previously announced projects as well.
The three major Far Cry games take place in remote or third-world locations, and feature protagonists using mercenary and guerilla tactics against local warlords and criminals and their henchmen. (There are a few expansions and revisions of the three major entries that tweak the formula, as well as the most recent title, Far Cry: Blood Dragon, which re-casts the Far Cry gameplay as a parody of/homage to '80s sci-fi action films.) A Far Cry film, whether adapted from any of the games or written as a related story, would likely be a dusty, bloody action film with lots of gunplay.
Watch Dogs doesn't hit shelves until November of this year, and is described as follows:
The storyline of Watch Dogs game is built around the concept of information warfare, data being interconnected, and the world's increasing use of technology—questioning who exactly runs the computers they depend on. The game is set in an alternate reality version of Chicago, Illinois, which is one of many cities to feature a supercomputer known as a "CtOS" (Central Operating System). The system controls almost every piece of technology in the city, and contains information on all of the city's residents and activities which can be used for various purposes. In the game's universe, the Northeast blackout of 2003 was found to be caused by a hacker, prompting the development of CtOS. The game will follow an antihero named Aiden Pearce, a highly skilled hacker described as a person who uses both "fists and wits.
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