The long-awaited Assassin’s Creed movie has had its share of delays over the last few years, but now it seems to be gaining momentum with the addition of Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard.
Cotillard’s exact role in the film is still a mystery, according to Deadline, but the project will reunite her with lead actor Michael Fassbender and director Justin Kurzel, who she worked with on the upcoming big-screen adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. However, the role is expected to span multiple movies if the upcoming film is a success.
While Cotillard won an Academy Award in 2008 for playing singer Édith Piaf in the biopic La Vie en Rose, the French actress has found mainstream success in recent years with a series of prominent roles in big-budget blockbusters. In 2010, she played the wife of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in director Christopher Nolan’s Inception, and in 2012 she joined Nolan again for a lead role in The Dark Knight Rises.
Production is expected to begin on Assassin’s Creed later this year, with a planned release date of December 21, 2016. The film was initially scheduled to hit theaters this year, but was reportedly pushed back due to scheduling issues with Fassbender and the need for script revisions.
With Cotillard currently nominated for another Oscar for her role in last year’s Two Days, One Night and Fassbender nominated for an Oscar last year, there’s a chance that Assassin’s Creed could end up with quite the Oscar-friendly cast.