Activision Blizzard has hired longtime Quentin Tarantino producer Stacey Sher to co-lead film and tv studio.
Activision Blizzard is moving forward with Activision Blizzard Studios, its new film and TV division that's creating a Call of Duty cinematic universe and a Skylanders TV show. And it's bringing on veteran producer Stacey Sher to co-lead the studio with former Disney exec Nick Van Dyk. Of note, Sher has produced several Quentin Tarantino films, including The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained, and Pulp Fiction.
"As its large and loyal fanbase can attest, Activision Blizzard has created franchises that mean so much to audiences over the course of 35 years. I'm excited about our mandate to create filmed entertainment based on Activision Blizzard games that is as great as the games themselves," Sher said in a statement. "I look forward to joining Nick, Bobby [Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard], and the insanely talented and forward-thinking team at Activision Blizzard to develop an even greater voice for these franchises by bringing them into the world of television and film."
Original Story 11.08.15:
Wait, did you say you didn't have enough Call of Duty? Well, you're in luck! Activision Blizzard has launched a new film and TV studio that's developing a Call of Duty cinematic universe—along with other IPs.
The studio is called Activision Blizzard Studios, and it will be run by CEO Bobby Kotick and Nick van Dyk, who played a key role in the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm while an executive at Disney.
Not much in terms of details regarding the Call of Duty movies. Activision said the first Call of Duty movie could be released in 2018 or 2019. It was really only a matter of time. The series has sold over 175 million copies, generating sales of over $10 billion, according to the company. A few extra bucks never hurt anybody.
The studio's first project is actually a Skylanders animated TV series. The show is currently in production and will feature a voice cast that includes Justin Long as Spyro, Ashley Tisdale as Stealth Elf, Jonathan Banks as Eruptor and Norm Macdonald as Glumshanks. Futurama writer Eric Rogers will act as showrunner.
“Our most important asset as a company is our audience, and in order to ensure that our audiences is always appropriately entertained at the level of excellence that we've come to be known for, we have to ensure that anything that relates to any of the company’s franchises is produced or developed with the same commitment to excellence that we have,” said Kotick. “And the only way we could see ensuring that that would happen would be to do it ourselves.”
In case you haven't heard, Activision Blizzard also currently has a big film adaption in production at Universal called Warcraft. Check out the first trailer.
