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Call of Duty movie “no longer a priority” for Activision – and it’s on hold

The Call of Duty movie director also reveals the script was written with Joker screenwriter Scott Silver

Back in November 2015, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare publisher Activision launched a movie and TV studio, with plans to create a “robust cinematic universe” based on the Call of Duty series. While the first CoD flick was due to arrive in 2018 or 2019, fans of the FPS games will have to wait longer, it seems – the director has said it’s on hold.

In an interview with Italian website BadTaste.it (via GameSpot, which says it’s verified the Google translated quotes), director Stefano Sollima has discussed the upcoming movie alongside his new Sky Atlantic show ZeroZeroZero. The director says the “idea of ​​expanding the universe, the world of Call of Duty [into movies] is no longer (at the moment) an industrial priority of the group, of Activision”.

He explains it’s on hold – “stood still” – which “happens quite frequently there in America”. It seems it’s in a “limbo” or “now let’s see” kind of state at present. So, while the movie doesn’t appear to be cancelled, it’s not clear when CoD fans will get to see the series hit the big screen – though it sounds like it won’t be any time just yet.

Elsewhere in the interview, Sollima confirms the script was written with Scott Silver, the screenwriter for the recent Oscar-winning Joker film starring Joaquin Phoenix.

It’s not clear why the Call of Duty universe might no longer be a priority for the studio, especially given Modern Warfare’s sales success. We’ve reached out to Activision for confirmation and comment and will update this story with any new information.

In other CoD news, there’s a green dots fix for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on the way so the game’s most irritating hiccup should be on its way out, and we’ve now got a pretty good look at that rumoured CoD: MW battle royale mode, too – check it out.