Paramount is reportedly in negotiations to acquire film rights to the Call of Duty franchise, according to industry reporter Matt Belloni at Puck, a development that would pair one of the largest entertainment studios with one of gaming’s most lucrative properties.
If true, the talks come at a moment when ownership and strategy around the franchise are shifting: Activision Blizzard is now part of Microsoft, and Xbox has been explicit about leveraging its game libraries across film and television after the Halo streaming series and ongoing Gears of War movie development.
Why Paramount Is Interested
Paramount’s recent success with Sonic demonstrated that video game adaptations can deliver strong box office returns and mainstream visibility when handled as broad-appeal tentpoles, and new studio leadership has reportedly put major game IP on the shortlist for expansion.
Call of Duty is a naturally attractive property: Activision has said the franchise has sold in excess of 400 million units worldwide, and titles traditionally dominate NPD Group sales charts whenever a new entry releases. The battle royale offshoot Warzone has also amassed tens of millions of players, underscoring a deep, global audience that studios covet.
What a Call of Duty Film Could Look Like
There’s no single blueprint. The series spans World War II epics, contemporary special-ops thrillers, Cold War conspiracies and near-future sci‑fi; each sub-franchise—Modern Warfare, Black Ops, Zombies—carries its own tone and fan expectations. A studio could pick a single, cinematic campaign and adapt it verbatim, or build an original story that uses the franchise’s military iconography as backdrop.
Creative precedent suggests two viable approaches: a grounded, character-driven drama in the vein of single-player campaigns, or a high-energy, ensemble action movie modeled on multiplayer set pieces and Warzone’s chaotic spectacle. The former follows the template that made HBO’s The Last of Us a critical and ratings hit for fidelity and emotional core; the latter leans into mass-market spectacle like the Resident Evil films.
Corporate and Creative Challenges
Behind-the-scenes hurdles are significant. Rights negotiations will involve Microsoft, Activision’s corporate teams, and studio attorneys; any deal must reconcile long-term franchise plans with franchise owners’ desire to protect brand identity. That complexity is amplified by Call of Duty’s annual release cadence and the franchise’s reliance on multiplayer modes rather than a single canonical storyline.
From a production standpoint, filmmakers will need to balance realism and spectacle while navigating potential restrictions around real-world weapons, geopolitics, and representations of conflict. Budget expectations for a global blockbuster—production and marketing—will likely be substantial, and studios will weigh those costs against the guaranteed but not limitless value of an established fanbase.
Box Office Potential and Precedent
Past game-to-film projects offer mixed lessons. Warcraft and Tomb Raider showed international box office potential when marketed correctly; Sonic proved that course corrections and respect for fan feedback can change a franchise’s fortunes. At the same time, several adaptations have stumbled creatively or financially, so a Call of Duty movie would face high scrutiny from fans and analysts alike.
Financially, a well-executed Call of Duty film could tap a huge existing audience—hundreds of millions of players and regular top-sellers—but success will hinge on narrative clarity, casting, and whether the movie earns crossover appeal beyond core gamers.
What Comes Next
Negotiations remain the first and most public step. If Paramount secures rights, the next choices—writer, director, tone, and whether to pursue a cinematic universe—will determine whether Call of Duty translates into a durable film franchise or a one-off spectacle. For a property this big, the margin between cultural event and missed opportunity is slim.
