Paramount Pictures has announced plans to produce a live-action film based on the blockbuster video game franchise Call of Duty. The move reflects Hollywood's growing success in adapting video games into major box-office hits.
Paramount, the Hollywood studio recently acquired by the software billionaire Ellison family, will make a movie based on the wildly popular Call of Duty video games, it announced Tuesday.
Scion David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, assumed control of Paramount last month and is overseeing a major effort to revitalize the storied but ailing studio behind Top Gun and The Godfather.
First-person shooter series Call of Duty is one of the world's best-selling game franchises, having sold 500 million copies. It is played monthly by more than 100 million people.
"As a lifelong fan of Call of Duty this is truly a dream come true," said David Ellison, in a statement.
The Call of Duty games are made by Activision Blizzard, which was purchased by Microsoft in 2023 for $69 billion, in the sector's biggest takeover.
There have been more than 30 Call of Duty game titles since it debuted in 2003.
The most recent major installment — 2024's Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 — was set in the 1990s, with a security team on a mission to target a U.S. senator and gain access to a top-secret site in Washington.
Under the deal with Activision, Paramount will "develop, produce, and distribute a live-action feature film based on Call of Duty," the company release said.
No valuation was provided for the deal, nor details of the planned movie.
Trade newspaper Variety reported that the partnership could expand to further Call of Duty films and television shows, citing anonymous sources. Paramount did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.
"From the first Allied campaigns in the original Call of Duty, through Modern Warfare and Black Ops, I've spent countless hours playing this franchise that I absolutely love," said Ellison.
"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."
Paramount is already the home of a popular video-game adaptation — the Sonic the Hedgehog animated movies.
Movie studios for a long time struggled to convert successful games into something the viewing public would watch.
But recent triumphs like The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which netted over $1.3 billion globally, and the nearly $1 billion take for A Minecraft Movie indicate they may have cracked the formula.
With AFP
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