Work on an Assassin's Creed movie is being 'fast tracked' after games publisher Ubisoft announced a deal with New Regency and Fox.

The act of writing a screenplay for the film - which is set to star Prometheus and X-Men actor Michael Fassbender - is "beginning immediately", according to an official statement released this afternoon.
Ubisoft will maintain creative control of "key elements" of the Assassin's movie and financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

New Regency president Brad Weston admitted that Fassbender's involvement made securing the rights to Assassin's Creed "even more irresistible".

"We wanted to do everything we could to secure the rights to Assassin's Creed, which Ubisoft has maintained with such care and quality over the years," he said.

"Having just finished working with Michael on Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave (with Plan B) made the partnership even more irresistible."

Jean-Julien Baronnet, Ubisoft Motion Pictures CEO, added: "Ubisoft chose to partner with New Regency because they are a talent- and filmmaker-driven company, with the same independent and creative mindset that we have at Ubisoft Motion Pictures.

"Bringing aboard New Regency's renowned production and distribution expertise while maintaining our own creative and financial flexibility ensures that Assassin's Creed will be a high-quality film that respects the lore and fans of the video game franchise."

Ubisoft has said it also wants to bring the Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon franchises to the big screen.