Activision Blizzard Studios

Activision Blizzard Studios, LLC
Company typeSubsidiary
Industry
FoundedNovember 6, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-11-06)
Headquarters
Beverly Hills, California
,
US
Key people
ParentActivision Blizzard

Activision Blizzard Studios, LLC is a motion picture production company and a subsidiary of American video game company Activision Blizzard based in Beverly Hills, California. It was created to utilize its parent company's popular game franchises through films and television shows. It is co-headed by Stacey Sher and Nick van Dyk, the latter being a former executive of The Walt Disney Company.

History

At an investor day presentation on November 6, 2015, in the wake of the Warcraft feature film, Activision Blizzard announced the formation of Activision Blizzard Studios, a film production subsidiary dedicated to creating original television series and films based on their video game franchises.[1] In January 2016, the company announced that the studio will be co-headed by producer Stacey Sher and former The Walt Disney Company executive Nick van Dyk.[2][3]

In 2016, the company partnered with Netflix to exclusively air its first television program, an animated series based on Activision's video game series Skylanders, called Skylanders Academy.[4][2]

Also in 2016, Activision Blizzard Studios entered into a content licensing agreement with a third-party production studio, Legendary Pictures, to produce sequels to the Warcraft feature film, based on their video game franchise World of Warcraft.[2][5] By April 2017, work on a film based on Activision's video game series Call of Duty had generated several scripts, with the hope that filming would begin in 2018.[1] The company also hopes to create films based on Overwatch and others.[3]

A movie for Call of Duty has been announced in 2015 during the investor day, however in 2020 the movie director Stefano Sollima said the movie production is "in limbo" and "has stood still", saying “the idea of expanding the universe, the world of Call of Duty, is no longer at the moment an industrial priority of the group, of Activision.” [6][7]

Productions

Film

Year Title Co-production with Distributed by
TBA Untitled Call of Duty film series[8] TBA TBA

Television

Year Title Co-production with Network
2016–2018 Skylanders Academy[9][10] TeamTO Netflix

Cancelled

Year Title Co-production with Network
2021 Untitled Crash Bandicoot animated series Amazon Studios Amazon Prime Video

References

  1. ^ a b Goldfarb, Andrew (November 6, 2015). "Call of Duty Movie, Skylander TV Show Headline New Activision Blizzard Film Studio". IGN. Archived from the original on November 6, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Vincent, James (January 13, 2016). "Activision Blizzard recruits ex-Tarantino producer to turn its video games into films". The Verge. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Jackson, Jasper (April 5, 2017). "Could the Call of Duty franchise be the next Marvel?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  4. ^ Keach, Sean (June 19, 2016). "Activision Blizzard's first TV show is coming to Netflix". Trusted Reviews. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  5. ^ Tarver, Evan. "Activision Blizzard: Will Warcraft Movie Save the Day? (ATVI)". Investopedia. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  6. ^ Mark Delaney (February 17, 2020). "The Call of Duty movie is delayed indefinitely, says the director". gamesradar. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  7. ^ "Call of Duty movie is "in limbo" reveals director Stefano Sollima". Flickering Myth. February 17, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  8. ^ Kit, Borys (November 6, 2015). "Activision Blizzard Launches Studio, Plans 'Call of Duty' Cinematic Universe". The Hollywood Reporter.
  9. ^ Activision Blizzard Studios Launches! By Silas Lesnick, November 6, 2015
  10. ^ "Activision Blizzard Studios Expands Pioneering Skylanders Franchise into Television" (Press release). June 16, 2016.