Assassin's Creed movie trailer: Michael Fassbender stars in video game adaptation

Has the curse of the video game movie finally been broken?

Will Assassin's Creed be the first to break the video game movie curse?

That will be in the thoughts of so many after the first trailer for the Michael Fassbender-starring adaptation of Ubisoft's ultra-popular, time-travelling franchise has been released; with its hopes to cure a long history of disappointing video game adaptations in the likes of Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Prince of Persia.

The film is dropping the game's protagonist Desmond Miles for Fassbender's Callum Lynch, whose path crosses with the shady Abstergo Industries as their revolutionary technology unlock his genetic memories and allow him to experience the adventures of his ancestor Aguilar in 15th Century Spain; unveiling him as a descendant of the secret society of Assassins who have been locked in a centuries-long battle with the oppressive Templars.

For any fans of the game disappointed that we haven't just been offered a supercut of Fassbender hiding in various piles of hay - both the actor and director Justin Kurzel have been keen to stress this is nothing like a straight adaptation of the games. Fassbender commented the movie is treating the franchise with "a healthy dose of respect and disrespect"; while Justin Kurzel relays how his focus shifted to thematic elements of the game, versus directly replicating its experience.

"I spent most of my time with the story and the real history," he told LA Times. "That was my main focus – not so much forensically going through every aspect of the game. It was: How do you make this into a piece of cinema?"

Fassbender and Kurzel previously collaborated on Macbeth; with Assassin's Creed so far promising a return of Kurzel's intensely visceral, charged visual style. The director's clear skills in stripping Shakespeare's text down to its primitive, driving forces also promises a slick take on what can sometimes be a messy in-game narrative.

Assassin's Creed is set for release 30 December.