EXCLUSIVE: After landing the rights to turn one of the world’s biggest video games into an epic movie, Paramount has now landed two A-list filmmakers to develop it. Sources tell Deadline that Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan and Peter Berg have joined Paramount and Activision to develop and produce a Call of Duty movie, with Paramount distributing a live-action feature film.
The pic will be designed to thrill its massive global fan base by delivering on the hallmarks of what players love about the games, a series of first-person shooters centered on military campaigns, while expanding the franchise to entirely new audiences. Berg and Sheridan will co-write, with Berg on board to direct. Berg will produce with his team, and Sheridan is also producing alongside David Glasser.
Sheridan and Berg are lifelong friends and previously worked together on projects including Hell or High Water, which received four Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay for Sheridan. They also partnered on Wind River.
Deadline has been hearing since the summer that Paramount was eyeing these two as collaborators but Sheridan was still deciding whether he would write the script or just produce. In recent weeks he felt the need to do both and will now team with Berg.
Berg and Sheridan seem to be perfect fits to bring the project to life given their previous works, specifically when it comes to the military. Whether it’s Berg’s acclaimed Lone Survivor or Sheridan’s hit Paramount+ series Lioness, both filmmakers have shown how to deliver the goods in the genre.
Call of Duty, one of the most successful video game franchises of all-time, has been the No. 1 bestselling video game series in the U.S. for 16 consecutive years with more 500 million copies sold globally. It reaches hundreds of millions of players worldwide.
Berg series credits include Painkiller and American Primeval. He wrote, directed and produced The Mosquito Bowl, an epic World War II drama for Netflix based on Buzz Bissinger’s bestselling book, which recently wrapped production. He is also executive producing a Friday Night Lights reboot. Through Film 47, Berg continues to helm major commercial campaigns. He is represented by WME and David Matlof.
Sheridan, who made news this past week when he signed a massive five-year deal with NBCUniversal that will see him exit Paramount in 2019, has long list of Paramount-based TV credits including creating the hit series Yellowstone as well as Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, 1883, 1923, Lioness and Landman; the second season of Landman premieres next month.
He currently has numerous projects in various stages of development and production including F.A.S.T., an original thriller starring Brandon Sklenar and directed by Ben Richardson, set for release with Warner Bros in April 2027.
He is repped by CAA and LBI Entertainment.
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