Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks 'turns down Assassin's Creed film

Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks studio reportedly passed on the opportunity to film an adaptation of popular video game franchise Assassin's Creed, due to the unprecedented amount of creative control demanded by publisher Ubisoft.

Two weeks ago, it emerged that Sony Pictures was in final negotiations to develop a film based on the series. However, Vulture claims that Ubisoft's heavy demands put off a number of studios.

The report says that Ubisoft has insisted on having approval over the film's "budget, principal cast, script and release date".

"They want to be able to pull the plug on the whole movie's development if they decide to," one unnamed studio source told the site. "It's ridiculous."

"They're not moviemakers, and the only way to make sure it's a bad movie is to undervalue what movie studios do," another source added.

It is believed that Spielberg's DreamWorks was among the first studios to pass on the proposed adaptation.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations, the fourth game in the franchise, is due to be released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 15.