Hot off the heels of Call of Duty: Black Ops III making its worldwide debut today, the company behind the franchise announced the newly created Activision Blizzard Studios, a new branch of development that will bring the publisher's video game franchises to the world of television and film.
The first project confirmed to be in production under Activision Blizzard Studios is Skylanders Academy, an animated TV series based on the popular Skylanders line of video games and toys.
Writer Eric Rogers (Futurama is among his credits) is currently on board, as well as a voice cast including Justin Long, Ashley Tisdale, Norm MacDonald and Jonathan Banks.
CoD flicks
Activision Blizzard says that "a series of Call of Duty feature films as well as the possibility of television adaptations" would also be in the works. While details haven't been specified, the company has goals of making a cinematic universe based on the military shooter franchise a reality by around 2018.
CEO Bobby Kotick stated in a release that the stable of intellectual property under Activision, which includes Starcraft, Diablo, Destiny and Guitar Hero, could reach new audiences under this newly created production branch.
Ironically, the film adaptation of the Warcraft franchise, which just dropped a trailer today, is being put out by Legendary Pictures, not Activision Blizzard Studios.
In addition to the latest entry of Call of Duty being released and announcing a film studio, Activision Blizzard also made it into the news this week with the $6 billion acquisition of the studio behind Candy Crush, making the saccharine puzzle game also eligible for adaptation for the big screen.
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