“Call of Duty” Movie Director Talks War Games

A few months ago, it was made official – Paramount Pictures was moving forward with a live-action “Call of Duty” movie in development at Activision.

Taylor Sheridan and Peter Berg are co-writing the script and Berg, who has handled plenty of action films, is directing. The film is currently slated for a June 2028 release, suggesting filming will get underway in early 2027.

Now, some old comments from Berg regarding first-person shooters and “Call of Duty” specifically, have emerged and are causing a bit of a brouhaha.

In a 2013 interview with Esquire, uncovered by Resetera and Games Radar, Berg was out promoting his film “Lone Survivor” and was asked for his take on video games. His response:

“Pathetic. Pathetic. Keyboard courage. Can’t stand it. The only people that I give a Call of Duty get-out-of-jail-free card to is the military. They’re out there serving and they’re bored, and they want to entertain themselves? Okay, maybe. Kids? Uh-uh.”

The interviewer then says Navy SEALs have a standing invitation to Berg’s house in Montana and asked if they play those games? Berg said:

“Some of them do. But I tell them I think it’s pathetic. I think anyone that sits around playing video games for four hours… It’s weak. Get out, do something.”

“Call of Duty” is one of the most successful video game franchises of all time, having sold more than 400 million copies worldwide since 2003. Attempts to adapt it to film have been going on for years, but only recently seemed to gain steam with Sheridan and Berg’s involvement.