This holiday season, videogame maker Ubisoft are stepping into the blockbuster movie realm with “Assassin’s Creed,” and you might think they’re worried about the financial reception, especially given the largely underwhelming return for Blizzard Entertainment‘s “Warcraft” this summer. However, according to the company’s European honcho Alain Corre, they’re already resigned to the fact that the movie itself won’t likely add too much to the bottom line. Rather, the Michael Fassbender– and Marion Cotillard-starring flick is serving a different purpose altogether.
“We are not going to earn a lot of money from it,” Corre admitted to MCV. “It is a lot more a marketing thing, it is also good for the image of the brand. Although we will make some money, it is not the purpose of this movie. The purpose is to bring ‘Assassin’s Creed’ to more people.”
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Basically, Corre wants the movie to eventually push game sales, which makes total sense. And naturally, they’re not expecting heavy box-office returns, because with 20th Century Fox in the mix, and the weird ways of Hollywood accounting, even if “Assassin’s Creed” is a smash hit, it will likely take some time for that money to hit Ubisoft coffers. Game sales, however, probably have a more direct route to their bank account.
But just to make sure they weren’t coming off too cynically, Ubisoft later sent a statement saying, in part, they they want to “…ensure we deliver a quality experience to ours fans. We strongly believe the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ brand has this cross-over appeal that will please both video games fans and movie goers.” And again, it makes sense — if you want people to buy your game, the film will have to convince them to continue the experience at home.
“Assassin’s Creed” opens on December 21st. [via Gamespot]
