Activision Blizzard launched a new studio on November 6, Friday at its annual BlizzCon event, which will expand some of its greatest game console hits to movie theaters and television screens, including a "Call of Duty" film franchise and "Skylanders" TV series. The company's Activision Blizzard Studios has already started working on "Skylanders Academy." Meanwhile, an Activision press release suggested that "Black Ops 3" and "Advanced Warfare" could help provide storylines for the movies, and small screen versions for the franchise might also be produced. The company has claimed its "Call of Duty" intellectual property (IP) value is greater than Marvel's.
The 2016-scheduled "Skylanders Academy" animated series has already signed up Hollywood stars Jonathan Banks, Justin Long, and Ashley Tisdale. Meanwhile, the "Call of Duty" project will likely be completed in 2018 or 2019.
In recent years Activision has had a string of widely-popular, money-making franchises, including "Call of Duty," "Diablo," "Starcraft," and "World of Warcraft." In addition to using its extra cash flow to launch a film studio, it also just purchased the "Candy Crush" puzzle game's developer King for $5.9 billion.
Various online rumors about Activision launching an in-house film studio have been floating around since August 2014, according to Engadget. However, at an investor conference Activision announced that it will still handle the company's divisions such as creative, publishing, and financing.
Nick van Dyk is an Activision Blizzard Studios' co-president and former Disney executive. He made a prepared statement about the new facility.
Van Dyk noted that Activision Blizzard Studios contains some of the world's biggest franchises that have not yet been developed into motion pictures and TV shows, and its IP library spans three decades of worldwide entertainment. In fact, its "Call of Duty" IP is bigger than Marvel's core IP, according to Fortune.
The exception is the "Warcraft" movie based on the video game series, which will be released for the big screen in June 2016. The first trailer was shown at BlizzCon.
Activision joins other gaming companies that have expanded into film and TV companies. They include Ubisoft's "Assassin's Creed" movie and Microsoft's "Halo" television series.
Activision was founded in October 1979. It was the world's first developer of video games for gaming consoles. The company's 1982 best-selling "Pitfall!" Atari 2600 game sold over 4 million units.
Here is the official "Warcraft" official trailer: