Activision reportedly rejected Steven Spielberg’s Call of Duty movie pitch

A Call of Duty movie is officially in the works from Paramount, but it’s still early days without any talent attached. In another world, legendary director Steven Spielberg could have directed it, but Activision reportedly turned him down.

Video game adaptations have always been a thing, but the good ones were few and far between; so much so that the phrase “video game curse” was thrown around.

However, there has been a slew of recent successes like HBO’s The Last of Us, Amazon’s Fallout, and A Minecraft Movie, and now, Paramount are looking to get in on that with Call of Duty – one of the biggest video game franchises ever.

Activision, CoD’s publisher (now owned by Microsoft), announced a “cinematic universe based on the Call of Duty franchise” back in 2015. But nothing was ever made, and in 2020, Stefano Sollima, who was signed on to direct the first movie, said, “Call of Duty movies were no longer a priority for Activision.”

It’s not clear when exactly, but according to Puck News‘ Matthew Belloni, who accurately reported Paramount’s movie deal before the official announcement, Spielberg unsuccessfully pitched a Call of Duty movie to Activision.

Activision reportedly turned down Spielberg’s CoD movie

Spielberg loves video games, especially Call of Duty and shooters, and is the creator of the Medal of Honor franchise and directed Ready Player One.

New Line Cinema

According to three of Belloni’s sources, the Saving Private Ryan director teamed up with Universal to pitch the CoD movie to Activision. However, Spielberg’s deal included “top-of-market economics, final cut, and full control over production and marketing.”

Activision reportedly got “spooked” by this and instead went with Paramount CEO and chairman David Ellison’s pitch. In the official announcement, Ellison said, “As a lifelong fan of Call of Duty this is truly a dream come true.”

We don’t know who’s making Paramount’s CoD movie yet, but Extraction director Sam Hagrave said there’s potential in a Warzone movie. Speaking to Dexerto in 2023, he said, “Anytime an IP exists that there’s a huge fan base for and has a cinematic quality – like a Warzone-type thing – I think there’s always potential there.”