Activision 'mulling a plan' to make Call of Duty and Skylanders movies

Activision Blizzard is reportedly considering a plan to launch an entertainment studio that could produce movies based on video games such as Call of Duty and Skylanders, according to news site The Information.

Citing unnamed sources, the publication said Activision is currently “mulling a plan” to do so. If it does, the move would be consistent with the strategies of other entertainment companies. Marvel, for instance, created its own movie resurgence by producing its own in-house movies based on its superhero characters before Disney acquired it for $4 billion in 2009.

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Activision boss Bobby Kotick clearly has Hollywood experience. He played a role as the owner of the Oakland Athletics baseball team in the film Moneyball, which starred Brad Pitt. We’ve asked Activision for comment.

“I would classify this as logical and has been a possibility for several years,” said P.J. McNealy, an analyst at Digital World Research. “Bobby Kotick has proven to be one of the most savvy video game company leaders in the past 15 years, and expanding the value of an intellectual property into other forms of media and merchandising has been a core strength for him and his team.”

Call of Duty and Skylanders are already extremely valuable properties, and Blizzard Entertainment also has big franchises in Diablo, World of Warcraft, and StarCraft. Production values for those games, particularly their cinematic cutscenes, are so good that they’re already like interactive movies. And Call of Duty has used Hollywood screenwriters for some time. On top of that, this year’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare stars actor Kevin Spacey.

Ubisoft is already making an internally produced film based on Assassin’s Creed. Microsoft is also making a TV series based on its Halo games, but it also recently disbanded its Xbox Entertainment Studios in Hollywood.