The Assassin's Creed movie's marketing scheme takes a cryptic route, giving fans of the franchise the chance to call the working number of Abstergo CEO Alan Rikkin.

Details surrounding the Assassin's Creed movie have remained hard to come by in advance of the film's release in December of next year. However, it appears as though there will be some more information on the project released soon - albeit in a somewhat mysterious way. It's been discovered that a real-world telephone number has been created for one of the movie's characters.

According to Slash Film, Assassin's Creed has been subject to an intriguing viral marketing move. Breaking the fourth wall, a website has been set up for Abstergo, the corporation working shadily behind the scenes in the Assassin's Creed universe. Following on from that, the movie's official Twitter channel posted an image of a block of business cards for Alan Rikkin, the CEO of Abstergo.

It didn't take long for intrepid fans of the franchise to try out some of the information on the business cards, including both an email address and telephone number. Those who called up the number were shocked to learn that the telephone number actually works, and connects to the voicemail of Rikkin, who is being played by Jeremy Irons. The voicemail states that Rikkin will "be out of the office on business until March 25 with limited availability."

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The move is certainly an intriguing one, and there may well be more to the date of March 25 than meets the eye. On March 25, the highly-anticipated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is going to be released in cinemas. It could all be a coincidence, but many are suspecting that Assassin's Creed will receive its first official trailer before showings of the superhero showdown flick, giving fans a glimpse at the film beyond the mysterious posters and images that have been released so far.

If that is going to be the release date of the film's trailer, it's going to be a longer wait than some may have expected. However, fans of the video game franchise will hope that it will be worth it. A lot has been made of the Assassin's Creed movie, with many hoping that the film will be a far cry from the quality of most video game adaptations. Meanwhile, the reveal that the movie will actually tie in to the story of the Assassin's Creed games has raised the stakes even further.

So far, though, the signs are fairly promising. With Michael Fassbender taking both the lead acting and a producer role on the project, and the Oscar-winning Marion Cotillard also signing up, there's every chance the movie will deliver on its promise. Let's hope that it's not a let-down.

Sources: Slash Film, Abstergo, Twitter