Activision Trademarks 'Call of Duty' For Movie Use

A movie based on Activision's blockbuster military-themed first-person shooter is under serious consideration, a new trademark filing suggests. Trademark sleuths at Trademork found that on September 21, Activision filed for a trademark protecting the use of Call of Duty in "Pre-recorded movies featuring comedy, drama, action, adventure, music, theatrical performances and/or animation." Separately, Robert Bowling, creative strategist at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward, said in a Monday Twitter entry that he is in Paris "Talking game films" with Xavier Gens, director of the film based on Eidos' Hitman games. The emergence of the trademark comes months after internet reports emerged from anonymous sources who said that Activision is seriously considering the film treatment for the Call of Duty game franchise, which itself is known for its flair for the cinematic. Activision-owned Infinity Ward created the Call of Duty franchise, which debuted on PC in 2003. After Infinity Ward developed the highly-successful Call of Duty 2, Activision annualized the franchise by handing off development of every other Call of Duty-branded game to another internal studio, Treyarch, developer of Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty: World at War. If a film based on Call of Duty did release, it would already have a hefty built-in audience. Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare from 2007 has sold over 13 million units to date, according to Activision. As of June this year, the most recent franchise entry, Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War, sold over 11 million units. Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is due out in November this year.