Assassin's Creed is a 2016 science fiction action film directed by Justin Kurzel, based on the video game series by Ubisoft. It stars Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, Charlotte Rampling and Michael K. Williams. The film is set in the same universe as the video games but features an original story. The plot revolves around Callum "Cal" Lynch (Fassbender), who is abducted by Abstergo Industries because of his heritage. Cal's ancestor, Aguilar de Nerha, was a member of the Assassin Brotherhood active during the Spanish Inquisition in the late 15th-century, who swore to protect the Apple of Eden, an artifact believed to contain the key to humanity's free will. Cal must accept his Assassin heritage and stop Abstergo, the Templar Order of the modern-day, from finding the Apple and using it to enslave humanity.
A film adaptation of Assassin's Creed was announced in October 2011. Fassbender joined the project in July 2012 and in January 2013, Michael Lesslie was hired to write the screenplay. In April 2014, Adam Cooper and Bill Collage were hired to rewrite the script, while Kurzel was in talks to direct. The remaining cast were hired between February and early August of 2015. Principal photography began in late August 2015 and concluded in January 2016.
Assassin's Creed premiered at the AMC Empire 25 in New York City on December 13, 2016, and was released in the United States on December 21, and in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2017, by 20th Century Fox. The film received generally negative reviews from critics, and underperformed at the box-office, grossing $241 million against a $125 million budget. A sequel was planned, but due to the film's negative reception and disappointing box-office result, it was cancelled.
Plot In 1492 Andalusia, during the Granada War, Aguilar de Nerha is accepted into the Assassin Brotherhood and assigned to protect Prince Ahmed of Granada from the Templar Order. In 1986, adolescent Callum "Cal" Lynch finds his mother Mary killed by his father, Joseph, an Assassin. Gunmen led by Alan Rikkin, CEO of the Templars' Abstergo Industries, arrive to capture Joseph, who persuades his son to escape.
In 2016, Cal is sentenced to death for murdering a pimp, but Abstergo fakes his execution and takes him to their research facility in Madrid. The Templars are after an Apple of Eden, an artifact built by a long-lost civilization. Using the Apple's code, they can control humanity's free will and eliminate violence. Cal is a descendant of Aguilar, the last person confirmed to be in possession of the Apple. Sofia, Alan's daughter and the head scientist, puts Cal in the Animus, a machine which allows him to relive (and the scientists to observe) Aguilar's genetic memories, so that Abstergo can learn the Apple's whereabouts.
In 1492, Aguilar and his partner, María, are deployed to rescue Ahmed, who has been kidnapped by the Templar Grand Master Tomas de Torquemada, to coerce Ahmed's father, the Sultan of Granada, to surrender the Apple. Aguilar and María intercept the Templars, but are overpowered and captured by Torquemada's enforcer, Ojeda. Sofia then pulls Cal out of the Animus.
Cal encounters other Assassin descendants held captive at the facility, most of whom are suspicious of him, with the exceptions of Lin, a descendant of 16th-century Chinese Assassin Shao Jun; and Moussa, a descendant of 18th-century Haitian Assassin Baptiste. Cal begins experiencing hallucinations, dubbed "the Bleeding Effect", of both Aguilar and Joseph. During their sessions, Sofia confides in Cal that her mother was likewise murdered by an Assassin, sharing his hatred of the Brotherhood.
Back in the Animus, Aguilar and María are scheduled for execution at an auto da fe but he manages to free them, leading to a rooftop chase in which they escape through a "Leap of Faith". Cal's mind reacts violently to the session and he is temporarily paralyzed. After learning that Joseph is also at the facility, Cal seeks him out and confronts him over Mary's death. Joseph explains that the Bleeding Effect will allow him to gain Aguilar's skills. He also reveals that Mary was an Assassin and chose to die by Joseph's hand rather than be forced into the Animus. Unconvinced, Cal vows to destroy the Assassins by finding the Apple.
Reaffirmed by his encounter with Joseph, Cal enters the Animus. Aguilar and María ambush a meeting between Muhammad and Torquemada; they kill Torquemada's men and recover the Apple, but Ojeda captures María. She chooses to die to protect the Apple and stabs herself on Ojeda's blade, allowing Aguilar to kill Ojeda and escape through another Leap; the force of which causes the Animus to malfunction. Aguilar later gives the Apple to Christopher Columbus, who vows to take it to his grave. When Moussa and the modern Assassin prisoners start a riot to escape, Alan orders the facility purged. Abstergo security kills Joseph and most of the other prisoners. Cal stands in the Animus chamber and is met with projections of his ancestors, including Aguilar, Arno Dorian, Joseph and his mother, while Sofia glimpses the projection of an Assassin resembling her. Persuaded by his mother, Cal embraces his Assassin heritage and, having fully assimilated Aguilar's abilities, joins Moussa and Lin in escaping the facility.
Having retrieved the Apple from Columbus' burial vault, the Templars convene at a ceremony in their London sanctuary to celebrate their triumph. Inside the sanctuary, a disillusioned Sofia meets Cal, who has come to take the Apple, and she reluctantly allows him to act. Cal retrieves the Apple, killing Alan in the process. As Sofia vows revenge, the Assassins depart, swearing once again to protect the Apple from the Templars.
Cast Michael Fassbender as Callum "Cal" Lynch and Aguilar de Nerha:An original character created for the film, Cal is a descendant of the Assassins, with genetic links to Aguilar, an Assassin active in 15th-century Spain. Cal has been running his whole life, ever since he witnessed his mother's murder as a child. But living on society's fringes has also kept him shrouded from the secrets of his ancestry. Awaiting execution on death row, Cal is captured and brought to the Abstergo Foundation's facility in Madrid, Spain, where he may soon come to understand his place in the world, and control the power burning inside of him. Fassbender described Cal by saying "He doesn't have a lineage he can feel a belonging to ... he's a bit of a lost soul. He's always been drifting in and out of correctional facilities", and conversely described Aguilar as "very much somebody that belongs to the Creed. He has a cause, he's sort of been following that cause. He belongs to it." Angus Brown as Young Cal Marion Cotillard as Dr. Sofia Rikkin:The daughter of Alan Rikkin and the leading scientist of the Animus project at Abstergo Foundation. Sofia is a brilliant scientist determined to use science to eradicate humanity's violent impulses and create a harmonious world. She might not see the dark underside of the modern-day Templars' causes, and her allegiance is yet to be tested. Cotillard described Sofia's relationship with her father as "twisted". Their relationship is distant, and she tries everything to "make him proud", she explains. "But at the same time, she starts to understand that they're not really on the same page. The most important thing for her is not to impress her father. It's to achieve what she started." Jeremy Irons as Alan Rikkin:The CEO of Abstergo Industries, one of the leaders of modern-day Templars, and the father of Sofia, whom he loves deeply, even if he often struggles to show it. He leads his own subsidiary organization, Abstergo Foundation, which is dedicated to the "perfection" of humankind. Determined to achieve the Templars' centuries-long goal to control all of humanity, Rikkin believes that through Cal and the ancestral memories he holds, he may finally achieve ultimate power for the betterment of humanity. Irons described the character as "a mover and a shaker. A shadowy figure. A man who is very much at the forefront of this world." Like Sofia, Rikkin believes in "removing the violent impulse all men carry", and sees an opportunity in Cal. "Rikkin believes the cause of unhappiness in the world is war, and if he can get rid of that then people like him will be safer and wealthier. He's not a very moral man, but he thinks he is." The character previously had a minor speaking role in the first Assassin's Creed game. Brendan Gleeson as Joseph Lynch:Cal's father and a member of the modern-day Assassin Brotherhood, also held prisoner at the Abstergo Foundation facility. Brian Gleeson as Young Joseph. Charlotte Rampling as Ellen Kaye:A senior member of the Templar Elders, referred to as "Your Excellency", who is looking to re-purpose Abstergo's multibillion-dollar annual budget used for the Animus program. Michael K. Williams as Moussa:A captive of the Abstergo Foundation and a descendant of Baptiste, a Haitian Assassin active in 18th-century Louisiana who started his own voodoo cult allied with the Templars after feeling the Brotherhood had betrayed him; he was killed by the Assassin Aveline de Grandpré in 1766. When talking about the character, Williams said, "Moussa definitely has some assassin skills. Although I think he prefers to use trickery and magic and voodoo to slay his opponents as opposed to just hand-to-hand combat, but if it needed to be he could take it to the mat." Baptiste appears in Assassin's Creed III: Liberation. Denis Ménochet as McGowen:The head of Abstergo Foundation's security force. Essie Davis as Mary Lynch:Cal's mother, Joseph's wife, and a modern-day Assassin. She took her own life with her husband's assistance to prevent Abstergo from using her genetic memories to find the Apple of Eden. Her name is not said in the film, but is briefly shown on a genealogical board and is mentioned in the film's novelization. Ariane Labed as María:An Assassin active in 15th-century Spain and Aguilar's closest ally. More measured than her partner-in-arms, María is light on her feet and exceedingly quick, and together they are an unstoppable force. Like Aguilar, she understands the damage the Templar influence is doing to her country. Carlos Bardem as Benedicto:The Mentor of the Spanish Assassin Brotherhood in the late 15th century. Khalid Abdalla as Sultan Muhammad XII:The last Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Granada whose defeat in the war against the Catholic Monarchs of Spain in 1492 marked the end of Islamic rule in the Iberian peninsula. Javier Gutiérrez as Tomás de Torquemada:Tomas de Torquemada ruled over the Spanish Inquisition for fifteen years, directing his inquisitors to root out and murder those he deemed to be manipulating the faith in their own pursuit of power. The most potent tool in his arsenal was the auto-da-fé: theatrical acts of public penance in which all those who crossed the Inquisition were burned alive. Torquemada previously appeared in Assassin's Creed II: Discovery where, unlike the film, he was not portrayed as a Templar. Hovik Keuchkerian as Ojeda:A Spanish Templar and Tomas de Torquemada's right-hand man. While Torquemada pulls the strings, Ojeda does the real work, exacting brutal punishment on any who dare to challenge the Inquisition. He thinks nothing of razing entire towns and commands a great army; however, his lack of subtlety is his weakness, because it allows the Assassins who operate in the shadows to keep their eyes on him at all times. Matias Varela as Emir:A captive of the Abstergo Foundation and a descendant of Yusuf Tazim, an Ottoman Assassin who led the Brotherhood in Constantinople until his death at the Templars' hands in 1512. Yusuf Tazim appears in Assassin's Creed: Revelations.