When it comes to war films, surefire successes are often the ones set in past wars like World War II or the Vietnam War. But modern war movies often need a particular element to lure in viewers, like how 2025’s Warfare was filmed in real time. But Taylor Sheridan and Peter Berg’s Call of Duty adaptation could change that.
It’s rare for big war films to also have a massive budget, considering Pearl Harbor is still the most expensive in the genre. But Call of Duty is already gearing up to beat the odds and deliver something special on June 30, 2028. Not only could it be a great time at the theater, but it could also be the war movie event of the decade.
Call of Duty Has Always Had a Cinematic Foundation
From the moment Call of Duty hit video game consoles, the franchise has had a foundation in cinematic moments that got the player excited. From fighting in Pearl Harbor to storming the beaches of Normandy, the intensity felt in film was translated well into the games. However, the stories were always limited to real events and never left room for much improvisation.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare changed all of that when audiences were introduced to a modern world through characters like Captain Price, Soap, and Ghost, and their mission to keep the world safe by stopping terrorism. Three games in the original series not only redefined the first-person shooter genre but also how emotionally powerful these stories could be.
Call of Duty: Black Ops was another successful story, at least for the first game, in how it took original characters and played on themes of government conspiracy and paranoia to give an authentic and terrifying look at the Vietnam War. What resulted was a strong base of expectation for what a great Call of Duty story should be like.
Modern Warfare got an updated reboot with a fourth game on the way, but it has always given the player everything they need for an exciting story. Whether escaping on a bike or infiltrating an enemy base with the latest tech, a cool action movie moment has never been far in the franchise’s various entries. These moments are what makes Call of Duty great and, with the right people in charge, are proof that a movie set in this world could deliver in every way.
Taylor Sheridan Is No Stranger to Tactical Combat Movies
Taylor Sheridan has been a part of many facets in the filmmaking space that include producing, writing, and acting. His first writing credit came in the film Sicario, a movie where FBI agents try to stop a Mexican drug lord. While it’s not nearly as comparable to a franchise like Call of Duty in terms of content or action, the film’s ability to frame tactical shootouts is truly fascinating.
Sicario is an amazing example and exercise in building tension through combat, and shows that tactical situations don’t always have to be framed as boring. Call of Duty‘s director Peter Berg has also proven himself as the right man for the job in terms of showcasing that tension in the middle of a battle while building a unique overarching storyline.
Berg’s best examples of this came in the films The Kingdom and Lone Survivor. Both movies showcase agents and soldiers trying to survive or figure out a larger issue with overarching consequences, and the firefights that get them to their next step are intense. Berg knows how to frame combat not as a moment to look cool but as a fight for survival that feels nearly impossible to survive.
Call of Duty has the chance to bring Berg and Sheridan together to deliver a war film that has action but cares more about the people surviving the battles above all else. Call of Duty has always showcased the price for peace, and it’s something that films like Lone Survivor and Sicario also deliver on.
Films like John Wick have shown the flashiness of gunplay and how it can be used to entertain, but Call of Duty has all the right names attached to bring the brutality back to the genre. The only question that remains is if the film will adapt an existing game or tell a new story.
Call of Duty Can Change War Movies Forever
War movies have never been in a bad place, but they’ve always been in a comfortable place. Even epic examples like 1917 and Dunkirk play it safe with a simple story and even simpler stakes. They also recount events that already happened rather than introduce a highly complex narrative that pulls audiences into character moments above all else.
Call of Duty could be the film that delivers something war movies have never genuinely had and, with it, could give future films in the genre more to chew on. With a bigger budget, the battles could feel more intense than ever, and since the games try to mirror real tactics, the “Easter eggs” wouldn’t even feel like Easter eggs.
There’s no official plan for Call of Duty to become a franchise, but if one movie can prove itself, then more could follow, and that could make this title not only the biggest war film of the 2020s but also one of the biggest video game adaptations ever. Should the film adapt one of the game’s stories, specifically Modern Warfare, it gives viewers more than a few characters to lean on, like Price and Ghost.
It’s rare for a war franchise to also operate like a video game series, like Sonic the Hedgehog, but Call of Duty is the perfect series to walk that line. With Taylor Sheridan and Peter Berg bringing the realism the franchise needs, all it takes is a story that manages to bring in fans of video games and war films to deliver something fun and grounded. Call of Duty is one of the biggest game franchises ever and has been for decades, and to cross over to the big screen is a huge deal that can’t be taken lightly.
Call of Duty
- Release Date
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June 30, 2028
- Director
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Peter Berg
- Writers
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Peter Berg, Taylor Sheridan
- Producers
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Peter Berg, Taylor Sheridan, David Glasser