Paramount might soon be adapting another popular video game franchise for the big screen. Puck reported that the media giant is negotiating with Microsoft to acquire the film rights to the Call of Duty franchise.
Paramount CEO David Ellison and studio co-chairs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein have reportedly made developing a Call of Duty film a “priority.” No talent is attached to this project at this time.
Ellison has reportedly expressed a desire to make Street Fighter the first theatrical film made from Paramount’s new deal with Legendary Pictures.
Since Paramount has also invested millions of dollars into making the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise into multiple films, this news indicates that the studio is now focusing on adapting games popular with younger audiences, like Call of Duty, into blockbuster movies.
This isn’t the first time that Hollywood has tried to make a film based on Call of Duty. In 2015, Activision announced the development of a Call of Duty cinematic universe. After years of little to no progress, those plans were reportedly left on the back burner and put on hold by 2020.
While adapting a first-person shooter game into a feature-length film is challenging, Paramount successfully adapted Sonic the Hedgehog into a trilogy of successful and acclaimed movies.
Call of Duty also has many popular games with multiple cinematic stories for filmmakers to adapt. Paramount could end up making Call of Duty into another hit film franchise —that is, if they acquire the movie rights.
