Michael Fassbender was impressed when he saw it, and ended up working with Kurzel on his 2015Macbethmovie.
It feels like that theme, or idea, is in this as well.
Are Shakespeare andAssassins Creedmore similar than we might think?
Or whether its actually part of your DNA and your genetics.
Its there through the experiences of your ancestors, so…
I definitely saw some similarities between, not onlyMacbethandAssassins Creed, but alsoSnowtown.
Another thing that kind of permeates between the three films is these gorgeous location landscapes shots.
How important was it for you to not do all of this in a studio?
It was kind of everything.
So, it was like, how can we make these assassins real?
How much can you parkour across a city?
Is slack-lining really realistic?
Are those drone shots?
So that was probably one of our biggest inventions for the film.
Yeah yeah yeah, its from these cable runs.
Yeah, kids films next.
Yeah, there is.
Like, I think weve got a lot in there, you know?
When I came on, they said straight away it was a PG-13.
Obviously the games 18.
And obviously Ive sort of trodden the ground of violent films in the past, especially my first one.
But I dont know, I saw the violence in this…
But, all in all, I think weve been really happy with how its sat.
Just to backtrack a bit: what was your first impression of this premise?
It came to you from Michael Fassbender, is that right?
And I was kind of like, Well, why?
[Laughs] Why are you interested in that?
And he said, No no no, its really cool.
And what if it awakened in you some sort of skills and feelings and kind of instincts?
Um, so I became curious very, very quickly.
And did you go back then and play any of the games?
Was there a particular one?
That was kind of what my game world was.
There is a bit of a stigma around videogame movies.
Were you hesitant at all because of that?
Or is it, if somethings coming from Michael Fassbender, youre not gonna worry about that?
It was a little bit like that.
I think it was kind of like, I really wanted to work with Michael again.Assassins Creedlooked really cool.
Um, the ideas didnt seem like, how do you make gameplay into a film and a narrative?
The ideas felt really rich, and it was about real history and real characters.
I think Ubisoft just had a really interesting attitude to it all.
Um, so I found that attitude to be different to what I was expecting.
So, how is producer-Fassbender different to actor-Fassbender?
Well, its just a very different relationship.
So, it was a very new experience for the both of us.
It was very different toMacbeth, you know, and its his baby, hes incredibly passionate about it.
So, I think that relationship kind of evolved as we were making the film.
And obviously hes got the experience of being in big franchises likeX-Men.
In terms of the story, theres more of it set in the modern day than I expected.
Yeah, it was interesting.
And, I think we were also really aware of just doing appropriations of the game.
One thing from the games that you stayed really faithful to was the leap of faith.
I read that theres a real jump in there, in the film.
So, how did you shoot that?
Where did you shoot that?
How much other stuff had to go on top of it?
Whats kind of humanly possible?
And definitely that was an extremely dangerous jump, and one that were really glad we captured.
Whats he landing on when he does it?
Essentially, it not only breaks your fall, but it kind of falls with you.
A story broke a few months ago thatAssassins Creed 2is already in development.
Are you involved with that?
Its kind of not.
Its, you know, I think weve all sat around and discussed ideas and thoughts.
I think you might definitely take it to some pretty great places.
You could definitely see how an Assassin could turn bad, and a Templar good.
The internet tells me thatTrue History Of The Kelly Gangis your current film.
Is that what youre on at the moment?
Its one that Im developing at the moment.
AndThe True History Of The Kelly Gangis, um, a kind of opus to make.
So youve got your outlaw opus.
Another one that I read was that you loveStep Brothersand youve written a comedy film?
Well, my brothers written one, and Im producing it for him.
And the two of them start to go on the run.
And yeah, I love comedy, I really do.
So do you know what youre going onto after this press tour is finished?
So, yeah, Im not sure yet.
I thinkAssassins Creeds one said 1400 jobs were made by the movie.
Justin Kurzel, thank you very much!
Assassins Creedis in UK Cinemas from January 1st.
