A movie based on the Call of Duty franchise was announced by Activision (now Activision Blizzard) in 2015 and was the talk of the town for the next 5 years. The movie was supposed to go into production in 2019, with an anticipated release in 2020/2021.
The movie came under the direction of Stefano Sollima, the director of Sicario: Day of the Soldado. He mentioned some radical ideas concerning the making of the film regarding the use of source material for the game. He believed in taking a flexible approach to as many creative liberties as possible to make the film independent of the source material. The film was officially halted in 2020 due to internal reasons.
Henry Cavill is the messiah of videogames
It is not unheard of that Henry Cavill is fighting to stick to the source material during any film adaptation of video games. He has been very vocal about his interest in making the Warhammer 40K series as close to the game’s source material as possible, which unfortunately couldn’t materialize.
Stefano Sollima, who was supposed to direct the film, felt the need to stay away from the source material to create something fresh from his perspective of the game. He wanted to make a soldier movie rather than a war movie. He said:
I feel that a movie must be completely different as an experience from any video games, so meaning that in order to make a good movie based on a video game, you have to betray the structure. You must ignore the idea that they did a video game. You need to create something that is completely new and a great movie
Henry Cavill was also rumored to have left The Witcher series, largely because they did not stick to the source material anymore and were taking way more creative liberties. Cavill has always advocated for maintaining the integrity of a game by staying close to the source material of any game during its adaptation.
Cavill was also rumored to portray Captain Price in the Call of Duty series, although nothing was shared officially, fans were extremely excited for him to be part of it. However, Cavill would have never said yes to it given the director’s approach toward making the film.
Importance of Source Material
Source material refers to the ideas and preparation that went into developing the story of the game during the early stages of its development. The idea with which the game began and developed along the way.
While adapting certain games into films, filmmakers try to create a universe completely different from the idea with which it first began. Hence, it jeopardizes the overall experience of both the game and the film.
Some filmmakers and game enthusiasts, like Henry Cavill, have always been the spokespersons for maintaining the integrity of a game by always sticking to the source material. Although this road has caused him to let go of some of his favorite projects, including Netflix’s Witcher series, he has never let that affect his principles concerning maintaining a certain level of integrity and respect toward the people who initially came up with the idea of the game and laid down the source material after years of working on it.
