Paramount to make live-action 'Call of Duty' movie

NEW YORK

Paramount will make a movie based on the wildly popular "Call of Duty" video games, it announced on Sept. 2.

Scion David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, assumed control of Paramount last month and is overseeing a major effort to revitalize the storied but ailing studio behind "Top Gun" and "The Godfather."

First-person-shooter series "Call of Duty" is one of the world's best-selling games franchises, having sold 500 million copies. It is played monthly by more than 100 million people.

"As a lifelong fan of 'Call of Duty' this is truly a dream come true," said David Ellison, in a statement.

The "Call of Duty" games are made by Activision-Blizzard, which was itself purchased by Microsoft in 2023 for $69 billion, in the sector's biggest takeover.

There have been more than 30 "Call of Duty" game titles overall, since it debuted in 2003.

The most recent major installment — 2024's "Call of Duty: Black Ops 6" — was set in the 1990s, with a security team on a mission to target a US senator and gain access to a top-secret site in Washington.

Under the deal with Activision, Paramount will "develop, produce, and distribute a live-action feature film based on 'Call of Duty,'" the company release said.

No valuation was provided for the deal, nor details of the planned movie.