Washington DC [US], March 20 : Netflix's live-action 'Assassin's Creed' series will be an original story set in Rome in 64 A.D., the makers revealed on Friday, reported Variety. The highly anticipated series, directed by Johan Renck, has started filming at Rome's Cinecitta Studios and revealed additional recurring cast members.
New members of the video game adaptation's ensemble cast include Louis McCartney, who starred in the 'Stranger Things' stage adaptation 'The First Shadow'; Mirren Mack; Youssef Kerkour and Sandra Guldberg-Kampp.
The show's previously announced cast comprises Lola Petticrew, Toby Wallace, Zachary Hart, Laura Marcus, Tanzyn Crawford, Nabhann Rizwan, Claes Bang, Noomi Rapace, Ramzy Bedia, Sean Harris, and Corrado Invernizzi, reported Variety.
The 'Assassin's Creed' game franchise has previously been set in several historically accurate locations, including ancient Egypt, Greece, Renaissance Italy, feudal Japan and revolution-era France, but not in ancient Rome.
According to the outlet, the year 64 A.D is known for the Great Fire of Rome that started around the city's chariot stadium, Circus Maximus, and raged for days during which Emperor Nero was away in the coastal resort of Antium, thus the phrase "Nero fiddled while Rome burned."
Nero was widely blamed for the disaster, with accusers claiming that the emperor started the fire to bypass the senate and rebuild Rome to his liking, though modern historians believe the fire was accidental, reported Variety.
The Netflix 'Assassin's Creed' series will be based at Cinecitta studios and shot entirely in Italy. Filming has already started on March 9 and is expected to run for seven months through October 16, with a potential 2027 release window on Netflix.
Besides using Cinecitta's vast ancient Rome backlot set with a Roman Forum replica, the show will also shoot in Rome's Lazio region and in Tuscany.
The video game 'Assassin's Creed' is one of the best-selling in history, with more than 230 million units sold globally since its release in 2007.
Now totalling 14 instalments, the franchise explores the war between the rival secret orders of the Assassins and the Templars as they use advanced machines to access the genetic memories of Assassins in different periods of the past to track down powerful artefacts called Pieces of Eden, as reported by Variety.
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