Soon after recent successes with Macbeth Michael Fassbender, who is eagerly awaited to return onscreen as Magneto on 'X-Men: Apocalypse', will team up once more with 'Inception' star Marion Cotillard and director Justin Kurzel for 'Assassin's Creed'. Oscar-nominated '12 Years a Slave' Fassbender will take on the role of both 15-century sword-wielding Aguilar and present-day Callum Lynch from the Ubisoft game.
Yet, despite being both actor and producer for the mega-budget production, the 'Steve Jobs' star did not have any inkling of this high-rating video game franchise prior to initial discussions with Ubisoft: "I hadn't played it before these guys approached me."
Fassbender gives a bit of assurance for fans all over the world during a location shoot in Spain after such an admission: "I've played it since [being offered the job] mainly to get an idea of the physicality of the character. We're striving to find something special. We believe the whole concept around it is special and want to service that the best we can. The fans are really passionate: very specific and they expect accuracy and historical detail. We're really trying to capitalize and feed on and enjoy the fun element. We're working hard to make this something special."
"A lot of the stuff in the game is Parkour. Blades attached to his wrists. It's about getting in close to the target, close quarters fighting."
While Kurzel has Fassbender doing a lot of the stunts himself, the actor plays the challenge down: "I've learned how to roly poly, tumble turn. Stuff you can do in everyday life. Like cartwheels. No - just basic fight choreography stuff. I did some horse stuff today. So stuff like that."
Empire points out that video-game adaptation as 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider', 'Silent Hill', 'Prince Of Persia' mostly only achieved relative success in translating the essence and feel of these games to live action, but that Assassin's Creed may surpass its predecessors.
In the meantime, Michael Fassbender's visibility these last couple of years alone or so has definitely brought his value up to a net worth of $30 million.
