Gotta Have A Sequel: BLACK PANTHER’s Joe Robert Cole Hired To Write CALL OF DUTY 2

In case you're wondering, no there isn't a CALL OF DUTY 1 yet.

By Nov. 28, 2018

Studio logic is often baffling, but wait until y'all get a load of this shit. 

Earlier this year, Activision Blizzard Studios hired Sicario 2's violent Italian auteur, Stefano Sollima, to helm a Call of Duty movie (the first in a proposed "shared universe"). That part makes sense, because Call of Duty is a franchise so old and recognizable that it stretches back to when even I mashed buttons on a video game controller (which, at this point, is many, many years ago). In fact, it's sort of weird that there hasn't been a COD movie up until this point. There are still bags of Doritos to sell, after all. 

No, what's weird as all fucking get out is that Activision/Blizzard have hired Black Panther co-scribe Joe Robert Cole (who also penned episodes of the amazing People v OJ Simpson) to deliver a sequel screenplay for that first movie, which reportedly hasn't even begun casting yet. Sollima's Call of Duty is set to go into production early next year, which is also allegedly the due date Activision has given Cole. 

I mean, on one hand this sort of makes sense, as Call of Duty has a solid chance of being a hit on name recognition alone (just ask any racist, online thirteen-year-old hopped up on Mountain Dew), and Sollima has proven himself quite the capable maestro of carnage, both in his native Italy and with Sicario 2: Dawn of Daddy Brolin. Plus, apparently Cole's is only one of several screenplays the budding studio has commisioned. All told, they're probably just making sure all their ducks are in order, so the project can be greenlit as soon as the franchise inceptor storms the opening-weekend box office beaches. 

Either way: good on Cole, who remains employed and probably picked up a decent paycheck here, regardless of what actually ends up happening with Activision's "shared universe" (though this is Trump's America, so it'll probably be massive). Hopefully, he can keep Call of Duty 2 from becoming Shoot Up The Brown Folks: The Motion Picture (and hey, maybe even give some notes on the first). 

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