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Paramount to Make Live-action 'Call of Duty' Movie

Paramount plans to create a movie based on the wildly popular Call of Duty video game. Ina FASSBENDER / AFP/File
Paramount plans to create a movie based on the wildly popular Call of Duty video game. Ina FASSBENDER / AFP/File
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Paramount to Make Live-action 'Call of Duty' Movie

Paramount plans to create a movie based on the wildly popular Call of Duty video game. Ina FASSBENDER / AFP/File
Paramount plans to create a movie based on the wildly popular Call of Duty video game. Ina FASSBENDER / AFP/File

Paramount, the Hollywood studio recently acquired by the software billionaire Ellison family, will make a movie based on the wildly popular "Call of Duty" video games, it announced Tuesday.

Scion David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, assumed control of Paramount last month and is overseeing a major effort to revitalize the storied but ailing studio behind "Top Gun" and "The Godfather."

First-person-shooter series "Call of Duty" is one of the world's best-selling games franchises, having sold 500 million copies. It is played monthly by more than 100 million people, said AFP.

"As a lifelong fan of 'Call of Duty' this is truly a dream come true," said David Ellison, in a statement.

The "Call of Duty" games are made by Activision-Blizzard, which was itself purchased by Microsoft in 2023 for $69 billion, in the sector's biggest takeover.

There have been more than 30 "Call of Duty" game titles overall, since it debuted in 2003.

The most recent major installment -- 2024's "Call of Duty: Black Ops 6" -- was set in the 1990s, with a security team on a mission to target a US senator and gain access to a top-secret site in Washington.

Under the deal with Activision, Paramount will "develop, produce, and distribute a live-action feature film based on 'Call of Duty,'" the company release said.

No valuation was provided for the deal, nor details of the planned movie.

Trade newspaper Variety reported that the partnership could expand to further "Call of Duty" films and television shows, citing anonymous sources. Paramount did not respond to AFP request for comment.

"From the first Allied campaigns in the original 'Call of Duty,' through 'Modern Warfare' and 'Black Ops,' I've spent countless hours playing this franchise that I absolutely love," said Ellison.

"Being entrusted by Activision and players worldwide to bring this extraordinary storytelling universe to the big screen is both an honor and a responsibility that we don't take lightly."

Paramount is already the home of a popular video-game adaptation -- the "Sonic the Hedgehog" animated movies.

Movie studios for a long time struggled to convert successful games into something the viewing public would watch.

But recent triumphs like "The Super Mario Bros Movie," which netted over $1.3 billion globally, and the nearly $1 billion take for "A Minecraft Movie" indicate they may have cracked the formula.

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Entertainment

Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni Agree to End Lengthy Legal Battle

US actress Blake Lively arrives for the 2026 Met Gala celebrating "Costume Art" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, on May 4, 2026. (AFP)
US actress Blake Lively arrives for the 2026 Met Gala celebrating "Costume Art" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, on May 4, 2026. (AFP)
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Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni Agree to End Lengthy Legal Battle

US actress Blake Lively arrives for the 2026 Met Gala celebrating "Costume Art" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, on May 4, 2026. (AFP)
US actress Blake Lively arrives for the 2026 Met Gala celebrating "Costume Art" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, on May 4, 2026. (AFP)

Actor Blake Lively and "It Ends with Us" co-star Justin Baldoni on Monday settled their acrimonious years-long legal battle, avoiding a costly civil trial.

A joint statement provided to AFP said the parties had resolved their dispute -- launched after Lively accused Baldoni of inappropriate on-set behavior -- without disclosing any settlement figure.

"The end product -- the movie 'It Ends with Us' -- is a source of pride to all of us who worked to bring it to life," Baldoni and Lively's attorneys said in a joint statement.

"We acknowledge the process presented challenges and recognize concerns raised by Ms. Lively deserved to be heard... It is our sincere hope that this brings closure and allows all involved to move forward constructively and in peace."

Hours after the announcement that the case was settled, Lively was all smiles as she unexpectedly appeared at the Met Gala in New York in a full ball gown that erupted in a cloud of pink, purple and yellow tulle.

Baldoni and the studio Wayfarer had previously countersued Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds with claims of extortion and defamation, but a judge dismissed those claims last year.

Wayfarer previously insisted that neither the studio, its executives, nor its PR team did anything to retaliate against Lively.

A judge dismissed some of Lively's claims, but upheld her allegations of retaliation, which would have proceeded to trial on May 18.

Based on a best-selling novel by the US writer Colleen Hoover, "It Ends with Us" made more than $350 million at the box office in 2024, making it one of the biggest hits of the year.

Entertainment

Demi Moore Joins Cannes Festival Jury

US actress Demi Moore attends the Vanity Fair Oscar Party at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in Los Angeles on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
US actress Demi Moore attends the Vanity Fair Oscar Party at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in Los Angeles on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
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Demi Moore Joins Cannes Festival Jury

US actress Demi Moore attends the Vanity Fair Oscar Party at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in Los Angeles on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
US actress Demi Moore attends the Vanity Fair Oscar Party at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in Los Angeles on March 15, 2026. (AFP)

American actress Demi Moore, still riding high from the late-career boost of her Oscar-nominated turn in "The Substance", will join the jury for the Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off next week, organizers announced on Monday.

The film extravaganza on the French Riviera, one of the world's most important annual cinema events, hands out a host of prizes, including the prestigious Palme d'Or for best film, decided by a nine-person jury.

Moore, 63, along with Chinese filmmaker Chloe Zhao, whose films from "Nomadland" to "Hamnet" have become awards-season favorites, will add some A-list sparkle to the jury, which also includes Ivorian-American actor Isaach de Bankole, who is set to play in the upcoming third installment of the "Dune" franchise.

As previously announced, the jury will be headed by arthouse South Korean director Park Chan-Wook ("Oldboy").

The other jury members are Irish-Ethiopian actor Ruth Negga, Belgian director Laura Wandel, Chilean director Diego Cespedes, Irish screenwriter Paul Laverty and Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard.

The Cannes Festival runs from May 12 to 23.

Entertainment

‘The Devil Wears Prada’ Struts to 1st Place with $77 Million Debut

People walk below an electronic billboard advertising the movie "The Devil Wears Prada 2" at a shopping mall in Beijing on May 2, 2026, on the second day of a five-day national May Day holiday. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)
People walk below an electronic billboard advertising the movie "The Devil Wears Prada 2" at a shopping mall in Beijing on May 2, 2026, on the second day of a five-day national May Day holiday. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)
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‘The Devil Wears Prada’ Struts to 1st Place with $77 Million Debut

People walk below an electronic billboard advertising the movie "The Devil Wears Prada 2" at a shopping mall in Beijing on May 2, 2026, on the second day of a five-day national May Day holiday. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)
People walk below an electronic billboard advertising the movie "The Devil Wears Prada 2" at a shopping mall in Beijing on May 2, 2026, on the second day of a five-day national May Day holiday. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)

Twenty years after the original, the sequel to “The Devil Wears Prada” made a splash in its first weekend in theaters.

Driven largely by women, “The Devil Wears Prada 2” earned $77 million in the US and Canada, and $156.6 million internationally, according to studio estimates Sunday. It easily topped the box office and bumped “Michael” to second place, though the musical biopic held well in its second weekend, falling only 44%.

The Walt Disney Co.’s 20th Century Studios opened “The Devil Wears Prada 2” in 4,150 locations in North America. Women made up about 76% of the ticket buyers, according to PostTrak exit polls; 74% said they would “definitely recommend” the movie to friends.

According to The Associated Press, critics were a bit mixed on the sequel, which finds Anne Hathaway’s Andy Sachs working once more for Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly at the fictional “Runway” magazine in a much-depleted media landscape.

The movie cost a reported $100 million to produce — a significant boost from the first movie’s $35 million production budget. But as filmmaker David Frankel told AP recently, “As it turns out, you know, by the time you finish paying all the biggest movie stars in the world, you still end up with basically the same budget for making the movie as we did the first one.”

Stars Streep, Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci have been on a fashion-forward global publicity blitz for weeks, with glamorous stops in Tokyo, London and New York. Even Anna Wintour, the inspiration for the Prada-clad devil, has been involved this time, appearing with Hathaway on the Oscars stage and with Streep on the cover of “Vogue.”

The first movie opened in June 2006 and would go on to earn over $326 million worldwide, not adjusted for inflation. And perhaps more importantly, it firmly became part of the culture thanks in part to its ever-quotable likes (“gird your loins,” “groundbreaking,” “that’s all”).

Legacy sequels are never a sure thing, but this time anticipation was high: According to Nielsen, streaming viewership for “The Devil Wears Prada” was up 428% from March 2026 to April 2026.

Second place went to Lionsgate’s Michael Jackson biopic “Michael,” which made $54 million in its second weekend in North America, where it’s playing on 3,955 screens. Its running worldwide total is already $423.9 million.

Universal Pictures is handling the international release.

This weekend marks the start of Hollywood’s summer movie season, a crucial 18-week corridor that runs through Labor Day and often accounts for around 40% of the annual box office. There are often Marvel blockbusters programmed as the season's kickoff, but the combined power of “The Devil Wears Prada 2” and “Michael” wasn't a shabby substitute.

“This is a really solid weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Comscore. “It’s this irresistible combination that more than makes up for the fact that there’s not a Marvel movie to kick off the summer movie season.”

“Prada” alone actually did better business than last year’s summer kickoff Marvel movie, “Thunderbolts.” There were several other new films in theaters this weekend as well, including the Adam Scott-led horror movie “Hokum,” Andy Serkis’s animated adaptation of “Animal Farm” and the Aaron Eckhart- and Ben Kingsley-led survival movie “Deep Water.”

They all opened behind “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which made $12.1 million in its fifth weekend, and “Project Hail Mary,” which made $8.6 million in its seventh weekend. Neon's “Hokum” led the newcomers with $6.4 million, rounding out the top five, followed by the very poorly reviewed “Animal Farm” with $3.4 million. “Deep Water” opened to $2.2 million.

In the top four movies, Dergarabedian has noticed a trend: “Over the past couple of months, moviegoers have really embraced pure, escapist entertainment,” he said.

The annual box office is currently running about 14% up from last year, with about $2.8 billion in domestic ticket sales to date.