In major film studio news, Paramount, fresh off its merger with Skydance, recently announced that they've struck a deal with Activision (now owned by Microsoft) for a live-action Call of Duty movie.
However, there's a surprising new report that reveals Steven Spielberg actually pitched such a project to Activision first, and he was told no thanks.
According to the report. Spielberg (Jaws, Saving Private Ryan) and his team at Amblin Pictures pitched a Call of Duty movie to Activision relatively shortly before the studio agreed to its deal with Paramount.
Spielberg is reportedly a longtime fan of the shooter genre in gaming and was very enthusiastic in his pitch about the project's potential. However, he wanted full control over the film's vision and how it would be marketed, something that reportedly "spooked" Activision's senior executives.
The publisher ended up partnering with Paramount, which reportedly countered Spielberg's proposal by agreeing to allow Activision to have some say in the project's direction.
Spielberg has a storied history with video game shooters, as he was reportedly watching his son play GoldenEye 007 and was struck by inspiration to make a game that eventually led to the Medal of Honor video game series. Many of the programmers and creatives who worked on Medal of Honor would go on to form Infinity Ward, the studio that made the first Call of Duty game.
Thus, in an admittedly roundabout way, one could make the argument that Spielberg was somewhat involved in the creation of Call of Duty, only to later be told that its studio leadership didn't think he would be the right fit to direct a film adaptation.
For their part, Paramount seems excited to have secured the Call of Duty rights, with its CEO David Ellison recently issuing a press statement, "As a lifelong fan of Call of Duty, this is truly a dream come true. 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. 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.”
Still, to turn down the director of Saving Private Ryan seems like a bold move by Activision and something that could come back to haunt them if the collaboration with Paramount fails to produce anything of note. Gamers, if nothing else, have a long memory and will surely bring up this decision if the Call of Duty movie fails to meet expectations.