Activision announces a film division

[Guest]

At its annual BlizzCon, Activision Blizzard announced that it will launch an in-house TV and film studio to bring many of its popular franchises to screens of many sizes. 

 

Reuters reports the first project will be an animated TV series based on Skylanders, but Activision said Call of Duty wouldn't be far behind. The Associated Press reports that Justin Long, Ashley Tisdale, and Jonathan Banks are already on board for Skylanders Academy and that the project is aiming for 2016.

 

Activision already has a bit of its intellectual property heading to theaters. At BlizzCon, the company also showed off the first trailer for a film based on World of Warcraft. The movie, due in spring 2016, is happening through a partnership between the Blizzard Entertainment unit and Legendary Pictures. (Sadly, it's no longer the Sam Raimi-directed project we all got excited about six years ago.)

 

Gaming companies also becoming film and TV companies is no longer novel. Ubisoft is co-producing an Assassin's Creed film slated for December 2016, and Microsoft famously tried (and kinda sorta failed) with a Halo movie back in 2006. More recently, that company announced and then killed Xbox Entertainment Studios, but people associated with that division's Halo TV series have publicly said it's still coming (despite being announced way back in 2013).

 

In an Investor Day presentation leading up to BlizzCon today, Activision Blizzard announced Activision Blizzard Studios, a new division of the company focused on creating original films and TV shows.

 

The first film project announced for the studio is “a robust cinematic universe” based on the Call of Duty franchise, planned to include “a series of Call of Duty feature films as well as the possibility of television adaptations.” No timing or additional information was revealed. The first release is expected in 2018 or 2019.

 

Source 1: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/11/further-expanding-beyond-consoles-activision-announces-a-film-division/

Source 2: http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/11/06/call-of-duty-movie-skylanders-tv-show-headline-new-activision-film-studio

 

I'm not really surprised that this is happening considering the size of Activision

I just hope that they actually produce something good (like making a COD:WAW movie,maybe)

I think that this is another indication that Activision is ready to get bigger by dominating console, PC, mobile and film industries 

[Gr0egercesg]

Imagine if it was a multiple ending film, where depending on how many 360° no scopes you performed, would alter the winner in the movie

[escape093]

From halfway on in the movie, you have to pay $20 extra per 10 minutes to see the rest of the movie to the ending.

[Doobeedoo]

Hmmm

[Neemil]

There are just some game franchises that shouldn't be turned into movies and COD is one of them.

[Bouzoo]

So they announced a complete eSports division, a movie division and they are buying King Digital. I honestly have no idea what they are doing. 

[FunkyFeatures]

So they announced a complete eSports division, a movie division and they are buying King Digital. I honestly have no idea what they are doing. 

Yet still not updating Black Ops 3 properly so we don't have to find workarounds to get the bloody game working..

[zacRupnow]

Actifilmvision!

[Toddwjp]

meh generic war film is alright, activisions stuff can fit films

[XTankSlayerX]

Activision can probably do well with whatever they own.

[Syntaxvgm]

The making of: Call of Duty

A story of bravery and recursion 

[CatCloud]

There are just some game franchises that shouldn't be turned into movies and COD is one of them.

There are plenty of short COD "movies" on youtube.

[TechGod]

This is just sad. Games turning into movies is never good...

[totjup5]

Yet still not updating Black Ops 3 properly so we don't have to find workarounds to get the bloody game working..

It works fine for me....

[FunkyFeatures]

It works fine for me....

The alphabet update is a major issue, seems to mostly be a Scandinavian issue. I got told "Get a wireless card and try again". Yay for "Ambassador support" with no direct chat or no way whatsoever to contact. AAA games are a joke at this point... Indie games have better support than this

[Xorbot]

Gonna have bad movie set backdrops like this:

 

[Samfisher]

So they announced a complete eSports division, a movie division and they are buying King Digital. I honestly have no idea what they are doing. 

 

[MuffinTopMike]

Just because you can make games, doesn't mean you can make TV shows and Movies, its a very different industry. Also most game story lines aren't very compelling and are really predictable, it is the game play that keeps drawing people in.

[Samfisher]

Just because you can make games, doesn't mean you can make TV shows and Movies, its a very different industry. Also most game story lines aren't very compelling and are really predictable, it is the game play that keeps drawing people in.

Considering Blizzard are the best CGI artists bar none in the gaming industry and are known for their strong storytelling and lore, I would expect something from the Blizz cinematics dept in the next 10 years.

[Guest]

Just because you can make games, doesn't mean you can make TV shows and Movies, its a very different industry. Also most game story lines aren't very compelling and are really predictable, it is the game play that keeps drawing people in.

It will really depend on what they focus on; most of their stories are great but seem like they lack the length I would have wanted.

They also have many more stories to revolve around considering how many companies they own and how many writers they can outsource with their money.

The CGI and other animations are going to be a bit easy since Blizzard has many CGI artists and Activision is great at getting celebrities that are willing to work (Please be Kevin Spacey!) 

 

I don't expect great movies from them, but they will surely draw a large audience just combining all the COD, WoW, Starcraft, Warcraft and Diablo players out there 

[Nup]

Looks liek we'll get hit by a bunch of game inspired films all at once. 

[BURNINGJUNK]

Get prepared for CANDY CRUSH SAGA... THE MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!! Starring your Dad that plays to much Candy Crush and your Mom who doesn't know how to play Candy Crush and just makes your dad beat all the levels for her. Coming Fall 2016