Gamers Have Been Waiting 20 Years for This: Paramount to Bring Call of Duty to the Big Screen. The Iconic Shooter Gets Its First Movie Adaptation

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Paramount has done what fans have been waiting for over a decade: the studio has struck a deal with Activision and will tackle a feature film adaptation of the iconic Call of Duty game series. For now, it's just one film, but the studio isn't hiding the fact that if audiences show up to theaters, the franchise will expand into series as well. The deal's price tag remains under wraps.

What we know about the project

According to Variety, this will be a big-budget military action project. Whether the screenwriters will focus on "Modern Warfare," "Black Ops," or create an original story remains under wraps. Paramount promises to preserve what players love most about CoD: that immersive "you are there" feeling, dramatic plot twists, and of course, epic firefights.

"I came here to shoot properly! I was waiting for a proper shootout with proper men," as Tom Hardy's character said in "Legend" (2015).
A man in military uniform sits holding a weapon under fire
Poster for the first installment of the Call of Duty game series
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David Ellison, who heads the studio, has already called the project a childhood dream: "I've spent hundreds of hours in Call of Duty. It's an honor for me to bring this universe to the big screen."

The Call of Duty phenomenon

The series launched in 2003 as a WWII military shooter, then took players through the Cold War, into the future, and even to space. Today, according to Wikipedia, total game sales have exceeded 500 million copies, with revenue hitting $30 billion. It's the most successful shooter franchise in history.

CoD became part of mass culture. Millions played it, spawning esports tournaments and legendary memes. For many teens and adults, the name "Call of Duty" became synonymous with "shooter" and "online battles."

Celebrity fans

Mila Kunis and even Ozzy Osbourne have confessed their love for Call of Duty, with Ozzy participating in an Xbox Live gaming marathon alongside his son Jack. Director Guillermo del Toro shared that he's a huge fan of the series, as reported by vg247.

The list of celebrity fans goes on. And this shows just how deeply the game has embedded itself in pop culture.

What would work best for the movie

When it comes to adaptation material, the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare storyline would be perfect. The game is set in the 2050s, when private military companies become more powerful than entire nations. Soldiers use exoskeletons, drones, and advanced technology, with control of the world at stake.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare game trailer
It has everything needed for a blockbuster: global conflict, a charismatic antagonist (played by Kevin Spacey), and spectacular action that could be executed at the level of "Transformers" or "Mad Max."

Even if some fear repeating the "video game movie curse," where too many adaptations have flopped, the recent success of "Minecraft" and "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" shows that the right approach to adaptation can make a film not just profitable, but iconic.

Call of Duty has always been cinematic — scripted scenes, staged explosions, dramatic dialogue. It's essentially a ready-made screenplay for a military action film. Now Paramount just needs to execute it so viewers believe: "Call of Duty" isn't just a game, but cinema worth paying for an IMAX ticket. Earlier, we at zoomboola.com covered the upcoming adaptation of another popular game series — Mass Effect.