PixlBit

Ubisoft's most popular franchise to date may be coming to the big screen sooner than you think.

According to a report from Variety, Sony Pictures is coming close to securing a deal to develop a film on the iconic video game franchise, Assassin’s Creed.  The deal is said to include both adaptation and distribution rights.

This news comes as no surprise since Ubisoft has been publicly shopping the property around Hollywood since the formation of Ubisoft Motion Pictures this past May.  With the formation of this studio, Ubisoft hopes to be able to retain more creative control on their intellectual properties than if they simply inked movie rights off to the highest bidder.  A similar move was made at Marvel when the famed popular comic book company founded Marvel Studios to better handle their properties after years of having no creative control after movie rights were sold.

Any Assassin’s Creed movie that results from this deal would not be the first Ubisoft property to expand beyond the medium of video games.  Prince of Persia: Sands of time was already adapted by Disney to disappointing reviews and gross, and Ubisoft Motion Pictures' first project is soon to hit the air waves in the form of a Raving Rabbids television show on Nickelodeon.

Yves Guillemot, chairman and CEO of Ubisoft, noted at Gamescon this year that he wants to see a big screen version not only of Assassin’s Creed, but Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon as well.

With more than 30 million copies sold, Assassin’s Creed is Ubisoft's most successful franchise of all time.  The next chapter in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Revelations, will hit store shelves on November 15 and will be available for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.