Assassin's Creed: Exclusive featurette unravels the mysteries of the Animus

The film sees Fassbender collaborate once more with Macbeth director Justin Kurzel for a visionary thrill ride

Fox thinks it may have finally beaten the video game movie curse - bringing to screen one of the most fervently loved franchises around, Assassin's Creed.

A new featurette has now shed light on how the film will approach the unique in-game mechanic of the Animus, which allows players to delve into the depths of their genetic history and relive the memories of their ancestors.

The film is dropping the game's protagonist Desmond Miles for Michael Fassbender's Callum Lynch, whose path crosses with the shady Abstergo Industries and their Animus, allowing 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.

Both Fassbender 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 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?" It'll be interesting then to see how Kurzel works in the idea of the Animus and the bridge between present and past.

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.

Kurzel's push for realism also saw many of the stunts performed live - including that iconic Leap of Faith seeing a stuntman drop 125 feet - while it's also been revealed the film's historical sequences will be entirely in Spanish.

Assassin's Creed is set for UK release 1 January 2017.