In November 2015, Activision Blizzard launched its own TV and film studio that aims to develop content based on the company's video game titles. As part of its future plans, the company recently named film producer Stacey Sher as co-president of this venture.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Sher has a storied career in film production. She has worked on several Quentin Tarantino films, from "Pulp Fiction" to "Django Unchained" and the recently released "Hateful Eight."
Sher is also one of the producers of "Erin Brockovich," the film that won Julia Roberts her first Academy Award for Best Actress. She has worked with several prominent Hollywood directors like Oliver Stone and Steven Soderbergh, a track record which Activision Blizzard saw is enough to help their fledgling studio.
Another prominent producer heading Activision Blizzard's studio is Nick van Dyk who is a former Disney executive. In a statement acquired by The Verge, van Dyk said, "Activision Blizzard Studios has the unique advantage of starting with a library of world-class intellectual property that includes some of the largest franchises which have not yet been developed in film and television. Our library spans more than 30 years of global entertainment culture and, in the last 12 months alone, fans of Activision Blizzard properties have played and watched our game online for more than 13 billion hours.
Activision Blizzard Studios is currently planning a TV adaptation of the popular children video game "Skylanders." Rumors claim that the studio is also planning to create a film series based on the best-selling and very popular "Call of Duty" franchise.
Another groundbreaking and popular game franchise from Activision Blizzard is being treated for film by a third party production company. "World of Warcraft" is being produced by Legendary Pictures and is expected to hit theaters in 2016.
Market analysts are seeing Activision Blizzard as following the footsteps of Marvel and Disney. Both companies have made massive multimedia empire by turning fan favorite characters and universes into film.
Some analysts said that video game franchises being turned into movies have a pretty terrible track record in Hollywood. Sher, van Dyk and other executives are facing a monumental task of bringing the magic of video games into the silver screen.