Ubisoft has a lot of successful game franchises under its belt, so much so that it's considered to be among the video game publisher and developer giants. And although the "Assassin's Creed" film wasn't exactly a hit among fans, the company is returning to the movie scene with a "Watch Dogs" film adaptation.
'Watch Dogs' Film Adaptation
Get ready to see some hackers in action trying to topple corrupt companies, crime leaders, or other hackers who are up to no good. Ubisoft is ready to bring another film to life and will collaborate with film veterans to make it happen.
For one, New Regency will be behind the feature film, which is the same producer who brought us movies like "The Creator," "The Revenant," "Ad Astra" and "Fight Club." The titles might be enough to keep fans optimistic, although the company is also responsible for the badly-received "Assassin's Creed."
It's reported that the lead role in the film has already been secured by Sophie Wilde, who starred in A24's horror movie "Talk to Me," as per Gizmodo.
Furthermore, the script will be written by Christie Leblanc under the direction of Mathieu Turi.
The plot of the upcoming film is still unknown, so it's unclear whether the movie will follow the narrative of any of the "Watch Dogs" games or if it will simply use the lore of the source material -- just like the treatment the "Assassin's Creed" movie received.
Since all the games in the franchise involve hackers who try to stop enemy forces, whether they are evil companies, black hat hackers, or generally people who use the central Operating System (cTOS) with malicious intent, it will revolve around the same premise.
The first two titles, "Watch Dogs" and "Watch Dogs 2" featured a specific set of characters, which will likely be the case with the film since "Watch Dogs Legion" was more about random resistance members recruited into a clandestine hacking collective called DedSec.
A Chance to Redeem Its Film Reputation
Despite having the advantage of tapping into an already-established fanbase, Ubisoft did not do well with one of its live-action adaptations. The "Assassin's Creed" film did well enough with visual effects and capturing the essence of the Templar-backed Abstergo.
However, fans who have played the games found that the movie did not manage to recreate the same awe the games' stories gave players. Some argued that there was too much lore within the franchise that it could not be covered in just one film.
Surprisingly, a lesser-known multiplayer title under Ubisoft called "Werewolves Within" also had a live-action adaptation, and it received better feedback from viewers overall.
"Assassin's Creed" had an audience score of 42% on Rotten Tomatoes, while "Werewolves Within" had 80%.
Unlike the assassin-based game, "Watch Dogs" does not have a lot of lore to unpack, and it won't require a lot of visual effects in both settings and theme, given that the general narrative is set in the modern world where computers and phones are used to access the cTOS.
