Call of Duty is going to be a “real movie,” and it’s coming sooner than later. Stefano Sollima directed this month’s highly-anticipated movie, Sicario 2, for which he’s already receiving some positive early buzz. Of course, he’s also busy prepping two new TV shows, but those aren’t the only projects he has lined up.
In November 2015, it was revealed that Activision Blizzard Studios would develop a robust cinematic universe based on Call of Duty, a first-person shooter game that has become an iconic franchise since it began in 2003. The game debuted on PC and soon spread to several consoles and handhelds. It has produced several successful installments, including multiple spinoff games. One of the most popular spinoffs, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, was recently made available for free for PS Plus members. And now, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is set to release later this year, but there’s so much more on the horizon for the franchise, including a movie.
In an interview with Screen Rant for Sicario: Day of the Soldado, Stefano Sollima briefly discussed his Call of Duty movie and seemed to be throwing some shade at the video game movie genre when asked what he has in store.
Of course, one can understand his somewhat shady response. Although some films like Rampage and Tomb Raider have received a small amount of acclaim, the majority of video game films, such as Tekken and Bloodrayne 2: Deliverance, have become subjects of cinematic mockery. Sollima hopes to take away the stigmata produced by all these disastrous video game movies.
“I can’t tell you but for sure, it’s going to be a real movie.”
People have held their hopes high ever since it was announced that Sollima was in negotiations to direct the Call of Duty film in February. Perhaps Sollima will distinguish himself from other directors who don’t realize that not only do video games not have compelling stories, but audiences don’t take the stories seriously in the first place. Perhaps a video game movie should concentrate on being fun, like the video game itself.
Sollima certainly realizes this, but of course, a great deal of the movie hinges on its story (and there are so many eras to explore). Plus, Call of Duty is a property that can get away with not being considered a video game movie but rather a war movie. With Sollima’s direction, it’s quite possible that the Call of Duty film will become one of the more successful video game movies.
