Watch Dogs movie in the works with Ubisoft, Sony, New Regency

A feature film based on Ubisoft's Watch Dogs is in development at Ubisoft Motion Pictures, with production being handled by Sony Pictures and New Regency, Ubisoft announced during Sony's Gamescom 2013 press briefing today.

"I think this will be very important for the industry," said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.

Ubisoft Motion Pictures is already collaborating with New Regency for movies based on Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell.

Update: "Since both Sony and Ubisoft have movie and video game branches, this deal creates exceptional opportunities for us to merge the realms of the story-based cinematic experience with the interaction of the video game," said Jean-Julien Baronnet, CEO of Ubisoft Motion Pictures, in a press release today. He added that Ubisoft will maintain "a strong creative voice in the film's development."

"The themes and open gameplay of Watch Dogs lends itself perfectly [sic] to the big screen," said Hannah Minghella, president of production for Columbia Pictures. "The game has intense action and adventure, but the story focuses on information and the control of information, which we think will lead to an exciting thriller. It has tremendous potential as a motion picture and we're thrilled to have the opportunity to work closely with Ubisoft's internal creative team on the development of the project."