Rumor: Steven Spielberg wanted to make a Call of Duty movie, but Activision said no

As per a new report from film industry insiders at Puck News (via Vice), Steven Spielberg pitched a Call of Duty film to Activision, who turned him down because he wanted complete creative control over the project, including the final cut. He also reportedly wanted control over the film's marketing.

Activision eventually partnered with Paramount and is now working to bring the series to the big screen. The Microsoft-owned house of CoD didn't want to give Spielberg full control, specifically over the final cut of the film and marketing.

According to three unnamed sources quoted by Puck,

"Steven Spielberg really wanted to direct the CoD movie. But with Spielberg comes the famous Spielberg Deal. This includes top-of-market economics, final cut, and full control over production and marketing. That spooked the team from Activision, now owned by Microsoft, which instead went with David Ellison's pitch that offered much more control over the process."

While the project didn't pan out, it would have been interesting to see how the renowned filmmaker would have handled the movie, especially given the famous Omaha Beach scene in Saving Private Ryan that served as inspiration for Call of Duty 2's D-Day mission.

Spielberg also has proven chops with World War II-era war films such as Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan, and could have lent some legitimacy to the project.

The live-action film being worked on at Paramount currently doesn't have a director attached to it. It is also unknown whether the film will take inspiration from the series' roots or stick to a more modern adaptation of Modern Warfare or Black Ops.