Video game publisher Ubisoft is teaming up with Atlas Entertainment (“Dirty John,” “12 Monkeys”) to develop a live-action pirate drama series based on its upcoming action title “Skull & Bones,” it announced on this week.
“Skull & Bones” is expected to launch on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One sometime in 2019-2020. The game takes place at the end of the Golden Age of Piracy and lets players customize their own ships, sail the Indian Ocean, and wage naval combat in both solo and co-operative gameplay.
Ubisoft Film and Television hasn’t revealed any details about the series except that it will feature a female lead. Atlas Entertainment’s Andy Horwitz and Richard Suckle will executive produce the project, while Robert Amidon will help shepherd for Atlas. Ubisoft’s Jason Altman and Danielle Kreinik will executive produce for Ubisoft Film and Television. Amanda Segel will write the pilot and executive produce. Segel previously served as executive producer of Spike TV’s “The Mist” and was co-executive producer on the CBS series “Person of Interest.” She’s currently adapting the novel “Autonomous” for AMC.
This is not Ubisoft’s first foray into film and television. Its popular “Assassin’s Creed” franchise was adapted into a film starring Michael Fassbender in 2016. Ubisoft Film and Television’s first live-action comedy series has been ordered straight to series by Apple. It’s being produced in partnership with “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” actors Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day, 3 Arts Entertainment, and Lionsgate Television.
Ubisoft is also currently working on a feature film based on the co-operative online shooter “Tom Clancy’s The Division” starring actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain; a live-action television series based on its fairy tale-like role-playing game “Child of Light;” and a film based on multiplayer VR title “Werewolves Within.” Both “Child of Light” and “Werewolves Within” are products of the company’s inaugural Women’s Film and Television Fellowship.
