Marvel may have popularized Hollywood’s shared universe model with a string of standalone films all expertly woven together under the umbrella of the MCU, but with each year that passes, we’re beginning to see more and more signs of other studios adopting a similar strategy going forward.
Take Universal as an example, which is currently angling The Mummy to be the crux of its brave new world of gods and monsters. Another studio that’s currently eyeing the shared universe treatment is Activision, after reports emerged late last year that the video game giant was in the process of constructing a “robust” cinematic universe built around Call of Duty.
Widely considered to be one of the biggest names in entertainment, the Call of Duty brand holds a tremendous amount of cachet in the video game industry and beyond, so it’s hardly surprising that Activision is working to transition that success over to cinema. Stacey Sher and Nick van Dyk, co-presidents of Activision Blizzard Studios, are certainly confident about the company’s vision, after the pair revealed to The Guardian that the first movie could arrive as early as 2018.
“We have plotted out many years,” Sher said. “We put together this group of writers to talk about where we were going. There’ll be a film that feels more like Black Ops, the story behind the story. The Modern Warfare series looks at what it’s like to fight a war with the eyes of the world on you. And then maybe something that is more of a hybrid, where you are looking at private, covert operations, while a public operation is going on.”
Bouncing off that, Sher also stressed the importance of netting the right talent – both in terms of actors and filmmakers. After all, what’s Iron Man without Robert Downey Jr.’s effortless sense of swagger?
If you look at Marvel, they started working when you had Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, and real film-makers on board as well. What I think made The Avengers so great was the writing and directing. You cared about those characters. If you just chase the empty blockbuster, and have nothing to say in the genre, forget about it.
The Call of Duty franchise is bound for the silver screen, it’s just moving very, very slowly. In the video game space, meanwhile, Activision’s juggernaut continues unabated, and may well be headed back to World War II for 2017’s title. Stay tuned for more on that one.
