Activision Blizzard and Microsoft’s Call of Duty franchise could take its blockbuster success to the big screen.
According to Puck’s Matt Belloni, Paramount is currently negotiating for film rights to the long-running shooter series. Getting this IP is said to be a “tough priority” for new Paramount head David Ellison, since it’d be another major gaming property in the studio’s portfolio after Sonic the Hedgehog. There’s a new Call of Duty game annually—Treyarch and Raven’s Black Ops 7 lands in November—and typically among the bestselling titles of each year.
Way back in 2015, Activision Blizzard opened a movie studio to kickstart a Call of Duty cinematic universe, starting with a film that never materialized. The publisher hasn’t tried making a movie since then, as it’s had a busy couple of years. But now it’s part of Xbox, which is slowly embracing adaptations: along with the now-ended Halo show, there’s a Gears of War movie coming and a TV show based on Obsidian’s Grounded. (Blizzard games Overwatch and Diablo also had shows in the works, but the developer’s deal with Netflix fell through.)
What does a Call of Duty movie look like? That’s a good question, since the series has jumped between various real and fictional wars over its 21-year lifetime, from World War II to the modern day and far future. (Don’t forget the one set in space!) Or failing that, it could always take the easiest route possible and do a movie based on the ever-popular Zombies or Warzone modes.
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