So this is pretty freakin' awesome! Tom Hardy has signed on to star in Ubisoft's big screen adaptation of Spinter Cell! Earlier today we reported that Eric Warren Singer would write the movie, but this casting news is so much more exciting! Hardy, who recently starred in the films Dark Knight Rises and Lawless, is going to be amazing in this movie!
The actor will play Sam Fisher, a highly-trained special operative in a fictional black-ops operation called Echelon. As of right now Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is not set up at a studio, but it could end up either at Paramount Pictures or Warner bros. Jean-Julien Baronnet, CEO of Ubisoft Motion Pictures, had this to say in a statement,
Tom Hardy is currently one of the biggest talents in the film industry, and he has a phenomenal ability to take on complex and varied roles with his broad range of acting skills. His involvement in the 'Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell' movie is exciting news for movie and video game fans alike. Meanwhile, Eric Singer is one of the most talented writers of the moment, and ... we're confident he'll bring a fresh approach and create a thrilling story ... while still respecting all the codes and traditions of the franchise that are so important to fans.
I couldn't be happier to see Hardy cast in this movie! He's currently shooting Mad Max: Fury Road, and Singer recently wrote the script for American Bullshit which is being directed by David O. Russell, and has Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, and Jeremy Renner set to star.
Ubisoft is also working on bringing Assassin's Creed to the big screen with Michael Fassbender, New Regency, and Fox.
The story for the Splinter Cell centers on a covert operative named Sam Fisher who works for Third Echelon. The name of the game, Splinter Cell, refers to an elite recon-type unit of single covert operatives (Fisher) who are supported in the field by a high-tech remote team. The first three games have Fisher trying to stop a terrorist organization who are planning and carrying out attacks. In the fourth game Fisher assumes the identity of a wanted criminal in order to infiltrate a terrorist ring. Fisher abandons Third Echelon in the fifth game, and goes on a personal mission to take down the people responsible for killing his daughter. There's also a sixth game coming out next year in which Sam Fisher is the leader and founder of a new covert organization called Fourth Echelon, after the President shuts down Third Echelon.
Source: Variety (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118062220)