These are some shots from Michael Fassbender’s appearance on the June cover of GQ France. It looks like a completely different photo shoot from Michael’s GQ US shoot. A lot of you have been wondering why I haven’t been writing about Michael lately – it’s because there really isn’t that much new information about him now that the Prometheus publicity tour is over. I think he’s in Louisiana right now, working on Twelve Years a Slave with Steve McQueen (and Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch and Chiwetel Ejiofor). He hasn’t been giving interviews and he hasn’t done any new photo shoots. It’s very sad to think that we’ll have no big Fassbender news for months and months, right? Because he doesn’t have anything else coming out until NEXT YEAR! *sob*

So let’s say a quiet prayer that Michael’s personal life gets exciting – like, he gets someone pregnant, or he finally makes his way to Virginia to declare his love to me (or both of those things!!!) – so I don’t have to keep on finding stuff like this to cover. Because I have no idea what I’m talking about here – I’m not a gamer. I have no idea about any of this. Michael Fassbender might be starring and producing a film “adaptation” of the video game Assassin’s Creed…?

Michael Fassbender will star in and co-produce “Assassin’s Creed,” the bigscreen adaptation of Ubisoft’s videogame franchise, through his DMC Film. While Fassbender’s profile has risen with roles in “X-Men: First Class,” “Shame,” “Haywire,” “Prometheus,” and will next be seen in “The Counselor” and “Twelve Years a Slave,” thesp also has spent the past year developing films with Conor McCaughan. Together, they produced the short “Pitch Black Heist.”

“Assassin’s Creed” is the duo’s most high-profile project, given that the game is Ubisoft’s biggest franchise, selling over 30 million units since 2007. A third “Assassin’s Creed” game bows Oct. 30 and is set during the American Revolution. First two take place during the Crusades and Renaissance.

Plot revolves around a man who learns his ancestors were trained assassins after he is kidnapped by a secret org with ties to the Knights Templar, and sent back in time to retrieve historical artifacts.

“Michael Fassbender was our first choice” to play the franchise’s iconic hooded hero, said Jean-Julien Baronnet, CEO of Paris-based Ubisoft Motion Pictures. “Michael (Fassbender) is an extremely smart, talented, versatile and committed actor.”

Last fall, Ubisoft was in talks with Sony to develop a series of “Assassin’s” pics (Daily Variety, Oct. 20, 2011). But the companies have since put negotiations on hold.

Ubisoft execs now plan to stick to their initial plan and develop the film independently in order to maintain greater creative control. Last year, Ubisoft invested in launching UMP, headed by Baronnet, former CEO of Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp, to adapt the company’s games into films, TV shows and digital projects.

While Sony could still wind up distribing the films, UMP will package the project with a writer and director before resuming talks with the studio.

“We’re open to re-discuss with the key studios once the production package is finalized,” Baronnet told Variety.

[From Variety]

It’s all Greek to me. I guess I’m excited to hear that Fassy could be signing on to a new movie, and that the movie will probably be a big-budget action-adventure type thing, because he really doesn’t do those kinds of films all that often. I guess you could count X-Men: First Class in there…? Fassy was wonderful in that. He’s good at action-drama, and he’s very fit and athletic. Physically and talent-wise, I think he’s up for this. But is it a good project? I don’t know. You tell me.

Photos courtesy of GQ France.