Don't Expect A 'Call Of Duty' Movie, Says Activision CEO

In 2007, Activision changed first person shooters forever with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The fourth game to carry the "Call of Duty" name, it was the first set in modern times. The release became a cultural phenomenon, due in large part to its incredibly exciting online multiplayer experience  Since then, the release of each subsequent game has been met with the kind of fanfare usually reserved for the biggest summer blockbusters. Call of Duty became a video game mega blockbuster, grossing billions of dollars.

The franchise is so well-known, in fact, that a movie based on it seems like a slam-dunk. A new article profiling the head of Activision, however, may ease the minds of COD fans around the world worried about what a film would look like. A Call of Duty movie is not something Activision is interested in. Read more after the jump.

The info came from a profile of Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision, in the New York Times (via Movieline). Here's the quote from the article:

CALL OF DUTY may look like a movie, but Mr. Kotick has little interest in turning it into one — and has turned down several studios' requests. He says movies based on video games rarely please devoted fans and could taint the brand.

Obviously, the statement "Movies based on video games rarely please devoted fans"  is true. Video games are such a personal, interactive experience that a passive entertainment like movie watching could rarely match it.

The second statement, however, is a bit more interesting. Does a bad video game movie really "taint the brand?" Several major, major video game brands have had movies made of them. Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Super Mario Bros., Doom, Resident Evil, the list goes on and on. Do you feel like you cared less about the franchise after those movies were released? I'd argue it doesn't matter because the movie and the game are so radically different. If anything, seeing the shitty  movie made me want to play the game again to remember what I loved about the franchise.

Kotick saying he's turned down studio requests for the rights to Call of Duty makes sense. There's no need to go through the trouble. One of those games grosses more than some studios gross domestically in an entire year. In the future though, if that's not the case, I could see a Call of Duty movie going into development. Never say never.

What do you think?