Bronson, Inception, Tinker Tailor Solider Spy actor and The Dark Knight Rises’ Bane, Tom Hardy has put pen to paper in signing up for the leading role in the upcoming videogame-to-movie adaptation Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, according to reports.

Set to be written by The International scribe Eric Singer, the project is still yet to be attached to a studio, although as the game’s publisher Ubisoft has confirmed to Variety that “preliminary talks” with both Warner Bros. and Paramount have already taken place. “Tom Hardy is 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,” said Jean-Julien Baronnet, CEO at Ubisoft Motion Pictures. “His involvement in the Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell movie is exciting news for movie and videogame fans alike.”

Michael Fassbender is attached to star in the adaptation of Assassin's Creed.Videogame-to-movie adaptations have been largely hit and miss, with the scale in truth tipping more firmly towards the ‘miss’ end of the spectrum. For every commercially-successful adaptation like the Resident Evil series of films comes a botched blockbuster based on the latest and most relevant videogame IP (Prince of Persia, anyone?). Ubisoft will have to hope it can over-turn the bad luck sent videogames' way, with Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell joining New Regency and Fox's Assassin's Creed in the game-to-film pipeline. Michael Fassbender is attached to produce and star that particular project, which certainly imbues us with a smidgen of hope that the drought of truly great videogame adaptations is over.

Splinter Cell itself follows black-ops agent Sam Fisher (usually sporting a set of nifty trifocal goggles) who works within a top-secret division of the NSA dubbed 'Third Echelon'. So far spanning six different instalments ranging from the Gamecube to the Xbox 360, accumulating sales of over 22 million, and with another game to follow in the spring (Splinter Cell: Blacklist), the movie by rights has a lot going for it even before the cameras start to roll. Tom Hardy as Sam Fisher? Tantalising.

Richard Birkett