Activision Taps Big Hollywood Talent For Call Of Duty: Elite

[Earnest Cavalli]

Activision Taps Big Hollywood Talent For Call Of Duty: Elite

Along with its social networking features, Call of Duty: Elite will feature original creative content, and you won't believe the A-list Hollywood glitterati Activision has lined up.

USA Today reports:

For Elite, [Activision CEO Eric] Hirshberg said, Activision is developing "exclusive episodic entertainment built just for the Call of Duty community. We are working with the likes of Will Arnett and Jason Bateman, Ben Silverman (we assume that's The Office executive producer) and Ridley and Tony Scott to create this content.

"Just like any other passion that people spend a lot of their free time doing, Call of Duty players share a common language and a common experience, and we think we can create some entertainment content that they will love and talk about and share."

I'll allow you all a moment to wipe the coffee from your monitor. Yes, that would be the same Ridley Scott who directed the only Tom Cruise movie you can still admit to liking [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004RE29T0/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00000ILDD&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0CDT09HMX101HXKEJ5BC].

Though Hirshberg never got into specifics about what sort of original content Scott might be creating, it would be a safe bet to assume that it will somehow be related to Call of Duty, or at the very least, its overarching themes of people being shot by high-powered rifles.

Now, don't get me wrong, while I realize this can widely be seen as Mr. Scott taking a step backwards in terms of cultural cache and creative canvas, he hasn't always been a blockbuster auteur. This is also the man who gave us the mediocre Robin Hood [http://www.amazon.com/Hannibal-Two-Disc-Special-Anthony-Hopkins/dp/B00003CXSP/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1313006739&sr=1-2].

No, I think the bigger shock here is that Jason Bateman would debase himself presumably in response to a fat bag of Activision cash. Unless he plays a reluctant werewolf [http://www.amazon.com/Teen-Wolf-Too/dp/B003U2QSCE/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1313006874&sr=1-2] with a keen instinct for aiming airstrikes, I'm going to be incredibly disappointed.

Source: USA Today [http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2011/08/director-ridley-scott-and-other-hollywood-talent-get-call-of-duty/1?csp=34tech]

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[teebeeohh]

so i am not allowed to like eyes wide shut anymore?
sure it's one of the weaker Kubrick movies but still.

 

[Shreder55]

And still I don't care about Call of Duty.

 

[XT inc]

Wow, see they took so much of your money through bullshit means, that they are spending it to hire these people to do work on their bullshit, elitist, glorified forums or whatever the hell it is.

Yall dun goofed.

 

[Woodsey]

"Call of Duty players share a common language"

I dread to think.

 

[Terminate421]

That was unnessecary to call it a sell out. Is Call of the Dead a sell out as well?

Activision may be greedy bastards but its easy to tell when they are trying to use Proffesionals instead of the average person.

Also, since when has Tom Cruise been in one good movie? Don't forget Minority Report and War of the Worlds.

Im surprised the Escapist hasn't editted this article.

 

[SovietSecrets]

Don't know why I bother reading comments on anything CoD related now.

Still looking forward to seeing how Elite turns out and can't wait for MW3.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

This is also the man who gave us the mediocre Robin Hood [http://www.amazon.com/Hannibal-Two-Disc-Special-Anthony-Hopkins/dp/B00003CXSP/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1313006739&sr=1-2].

I don't blame him for Robin Hood, I think like Kingdom of Heaven it was screwed over by the editor, not the director. The director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven is MUCH better.

 

[MarsProbe]

I'll allow you all a moment to wipe the coffee from your monitor. Yes, that would be the same Ridley Scott who directed the only Tom Cruise movie you can still admit to liking [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004RE29T0/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00000ILDD&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0CDT09HMX101HXKEJ5BC].

Did something happen to Minority Report while I was away?

Anyway, as for this news. Good for them, but as I am unlikely to be partaking of the Modern Warfare 3, it's probably not worth me getting excited about this really.

 

[Awexsome]

Sure are quick to jump on the CoD = bad train aren't you there Earnest.

Don't blame you though. Tell the people what they want to hear.

 

[Sucal]

Hey I liked Hannibal...

Though I still don't give a crap about call of duty.

 

[Earnest Cavalli]

Sure are quick to jump on the CoD = bad train aren't you there Earnest.

Don't blame you though. Tell the people what they want to hear.

Not at all, but compared to Scott's Blade Runner -- hell, compared solely to that Rutger Hauer monologue at the end -- Call of Duty isn't exactly cerebral entertainment.

Also, if anything, my allusion to the man stepping down from his normally lofty creative aspirations to work in the realm of games-by-proxy, was more a reference to the ghettoization of videogames as a medium than a slight against any particular series, regardless of what the vox populi might think about Activision's cash cow du jour.

Or, if you prefer, the tl;dr version: "Sure are quick to jump on the Earnest = simple-minded fanboy aren't you there Awexsome."

 

[Baresark]

"Call of Duty players share a common language"

I dread to think.

Wait... wait.... I read about this on Wikipedia. It's a language made up of racial and sexual slurs about humping the other guys mother....... And I think it was designed by a 12 year old using a Madlib booklet..... Yeah, that's the common language, now that I said it, it makes sense.

OT: I am not surprised for one second that all these big names are involved. Videogames are the worlds largest entertainment industry at this point. I mean, they stand to make more money putting there name on CoD than in a theatre these days.... especially since most of the big names best works seem to be behind them.

Also, I still don't care one iota about CoD, or Elite for that matter. It's just a pain in the ass hearing about this stuff. I just don't understand why people would be interested in yet another user name and password and social network.