Less than a week after reports of Paramount being in negotiations to acquire the rights for a Call of Duty movie started circulating, the studio has now made it official.
A new report from Variety reveals that Paramount Pictures has signed a deal to develop, produce, and distribute a live-action film based on the Call of Duty franchise. This means that the studio has the green light to start working on a movie and has the whole franchise at its disposal.
The deal is understood to be about making one blockbuster movie, but also involves potential for Paramount to expand this collaboration to make more films and even TV shows.
No other details were announced as the project is just starting, meaning no person is attached to it, and we don't have a release date. We also still don't know if the movie will be an original story or if it will take elements from one of the Call of Duty subfranchises like Modern Warfare or Black Ops.
"Being entrusted by Activision and players worldwide to bring this extraordinary storytelling universe to the big screen is both an honor and a responsibility that we don’t take lightly," expressed David Ellison, Paramount's chairman and CEO, in regards to the announcement.
Activision president, Rob Kostich, said the following in a statement addressing the announcement: “With Paramount, we have found a fantastic partner who we will work with to take that visceral, breathtaking action to the big screen in a defining cinematic moment. The film will honor and expand upon what has made this franchise great in the first place, and we cannot wait to get started.”
Although video game adaptations aren't usually considered the best, we have seen many examples of how to successfully bring them to the big screen in recent years. Paramount has some experience in particular with the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, with a Knuckles TV show also out and a fourth movie now in development. We will have to wait and see what they bring to the table now that they have acquired the rights for one of the most prolific franchises in the video game space.
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