Activision should ditch the Call of Duty movie and bring back its absurd celeb fest where Will Arnett went on a quest to find his own junk
Activision's announcement of a Call of Duty film adaptation has prompted reflection on the franchise's earlier multimedia ventures. In 2011, the company launched Call of Duty Elite, a $50 annual subscription service designed as a social network platform that bundled monthly DLC, exclusive content, and three original video series featuring established entertainment figures including Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Andrew Santino, and Oscar-winning directors Ridley and Tony Scott.
The author contrasts this decentralised, celebrity-focused video content strategy with the current movie adaptation approach. Rather than a single film project, the historical model created multiple entertainment entry points and leveraged well-known personalities to build engagement around the franchise. The piece implies that the upcoming film—helmed by the director of Battleship and centred on Modern Warfare—represents a narrower, potentially less effective multimedia strategy than the varied video series approach that characterised Call of Duty Elite.
- Activision is adapting Call of Duty into a movie directed by the Battleship filmmaker, set in Modern Warfare
- The author recalls Call of Duty Elite (2011), a subscription service that featured three celebrity-driven video series with personalities like Will Arnett and Ridley Scott
- The piece suggests the franchise's previous multimedia strategy was more engaging than the current film adaptation approach