Call Of Duty Movie Universe To Draw From Black Ops, Modern Warfare
First Call of Duty film could come as soon as next year.
Activision is planning a Marvel-style extended film universe for its Call of Duty series, according to a recent interview.
Stacey Sher and Nick van Dyk, co-presidents of in-house production team Activision Blizzard Studios, told the Guardian that films based on Call of Duty sub-brands are currently in the works, while multiple scripts have already been written.
"We have plotted out many years," said Sher. "We put together this group of writers to talk about where we were going. There'll be a film that feels more like Black Ops, the story behind the story. The Modern Warfare series looks at what it's like to fight a war with the eyes of the world on you. And then maybe something that is more of a hybrid, where you are looking at private, covert operations, while a public operation is going on."
It's not clear whether Sher is referring to three separate movies--one based on Black Ops, one on Modern Warfare, and one a hybrid--or if she is discussing one film that draws on multiple Call of Duty sources.
"It's going to have the same sort of high-adrenaline, high-energy aesthetic as the game, but it's not a literal adaptation," added van Dyk. "It's a much more broad and inclusive, global in scope ... a big, tentpole, Marvel-esque movie."
In addition to a number of films--the first of which could, according to the Guardian, arrive as early as 2018--the studio is also considering a TV series based on historical conflicts, such as those in Vietnam and World War II. Call of Duty has visited both those eras in the past with Black Ops and the early, numbered games respectively. The next Call of Duty game is rumored to return the franchise to the Second World War after multiple futuristic entries.
Any potential Call of Duty movie would not be Activision Blizzard's first foray into the world of film: the company released a World of Warcraft motion picture, simply called Warcraft, in 2016. Warcraft went on to be the highest-grossing video game movie ever, earning $337 million at the worldwide box office, though it was a critical failure. However it should be noted that Warcraft was licensed out to a third-party studio, Legendary Pictures, while the Call of Duty films will seemingly be produced in house.
In other Call of Duty news, Infinite Warfare's new map pack was recently revealed. Called Continuum, it will contain a new Zombies chapter and four new multiplayer maps--one of which is based on a Modern Warfare 2 classic.
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