Netflix has announced that it has kicked off the filming for its live-action adaptation of Assassin’s Creed. Filming for the project has started in Rome, and the company has confirmed that the show will take place in the year 64 AD. Its story will be an original one, set in the heart of the Roman Empire. Filming for this is primarily taking place at Cinecittà Studios. The show is set to be the first series part of the partnership between Netflix and Ubisoft for the Assassin’s Creed franchise.
While Netflix has left out the finer details about the story of its Assassin’s Creed show, it has confirmed that its plot will revolve around a “secret war between two shadowy factions — one set on determining mankind’s future through control and manipulation, while the other fights to preserve free will.” The show will seemingly follow a variety of characters through major historical events of the era.
While Lola Petticrew, Toby Wallace, Zachary Hart, Laura Marcus, Tanzyn Crawford, Nabhaan Rizwan and Claes Bang were previously confirmed to star as regular cast members in the show, Netflix has now revealed more details. Noomi Rapace (Lamb, Prometheus), Ramzy Bedia (Of Money and Blood, Haunted Minds), Sean Harris (Mission: Impossible — Fallout, The Stranger), and Corrado Invernizzi (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Ford v. Ferrari) will be involved, taking on the role of recurring characters. The streaming giant has also confirmed that the show will feature Sandra Guldberg-Kampp (Foundation, The Rain, Electric Child), Youssef Kerkour (A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms), Mirren Mack (Hedda, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple), and Louis McCartney (Stranger Things: The First Shadow).
Roberto Patino—known for his work on DMZ, Westworld and Sons of Anarchy—and David Wiener—having worked on Halo, Homecoming and The Killing—will work on the project as its creators, showrunners, and executive producers. In a statement, the duo spoke about being fans of the Assassin’s Creed franchise since its debut back in 2007.
“We’ve been fans of Assassin’s Creed since its release in 2007. Every day we work on this show, we come away excited and humbled by the possibilities that Assassin’s Creed opens to us,” they said in a joint statement. “Beneath the scope, the spectacle, the parkour and the thrills is a baseline for the most essential kind of human story — about people searching for purpose, struggling with questions of identity and destiny and faith. It is about power and violence and sex and greed and vengeance.”
“But more than anything, this is a show about the value of human connection, across cultures, across time. And it’s about what we stand to lose as a species, when those connections break. We’ve got an amazing team behind us with the folks at Ubisoft and our champions at Netflix, and we’re committed to creating something undeniable for fans all over the planet.”
Patino and Wiener will be joined in their executive producer duties by Gerard Guillemot, Margaret Boykin, Austin Dill, and Genevieve Jones as part of Ubisoft Film & Television, as well as Matt O’Toole.
Netflix hasn’t yet confirmed any release date for its Assassin’s Creed series.
