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Taylor Sheridan has become a proven hit-maker with a slew of beloved shows, including Yellowstone, Landman, and* Mayor of Kingstown*. News broke in October that the actor-turned-writer had been tapped to pen a Call of Duty movie with Lone Survivor director Peter Berg. The film will adapt the global smash-hit video game series that features military-centric combat, with Berg also set to direct the feature.

While recently speaking with Variety, the President of Game Content and Studios at Microsoft, Matt Booty, delved into what makes the Call of Duty movie an exciting prospect. As Booty notes, the Call of Duty team "found a partner who understands the game."

"A relationship came about between the folks at Paramount and the senior people on the ‘Call of Duty’ team, where they felt like they found a partner who understands the game, people who play the game, and shared a vision of what it could be to bring that forward. And that’s how these things come about for us. They aren’t negotiated at a detached, kind of abstract level — and then we find out. These things start with the game team."

While Booty didn’t get into specifics as to what the plot will entail, he believes Sheridan "will be a good match for what they’ve got in mind." A bold statement, given that a pitch from Steven Spielberg was rejected, yet Sheridan’s addition seems like a potential good omen for the current idea. The Xbox executive also teased the lengthy canon the series has to pull from, pondering the possibilities that await gamers and action-movie fans, saying:

"If you think about the way that he tells stories, you think about the other things that he’s been a writer on, I think that the team feels that he’s got a good approach to characters and a good approach to story that’ll match up with their vision of what a ‘Call of Duty’ movie [is]. ... ‘Call of Duty,’ there’s two decades of ‘Call of Duty’ — where do you start? Which character do you pick from which branch of the franchise? And so the team has got a vision where they want to go, and I think Taylor Sheridan will be a good match for what they’ve got in mind."

Is Taylor Sheridan Right for the ‘Call of Duty’ Movie?

Lionsgate

Sheridan has carved out a place in several genres, hitting westerns with shows like *1883 *and mob stories with Tulsa King. With shows like Yellowstone and its spinoffs, the creator of *1923 *continues to demonstrate his adept ability to craft a vast array of characters, each with their own flawed natures. Sheridan even takes on some of the roles himself, appearing as Travis Wheatley on *Yellowstone *and Cody Spears on Lioness.

The best evidence to support Sheridan’s ability to craft a Call of Duty movie comes from his film work. The first feature script he produced was 2015’s Sicario, which follows an FBI Agent teaming with government black-ops soldiers in an escalating, questionable battle against Mexican drug cartels. Sicario mirrored numerous elements that make the Call of Duty games work, highlighting his aptitude for military-style thrillers from the start, as the film was lauded by critics, with Denis Villeneuve directing. Sheridan also penned the equally impressive 2018 sequel, Sicario: Day of the Soldado.

While details surrounding the Call of Duty movie remain scarce, Sheridan has a proven track record, highlighting his ability to bring it to life, making Booty’s comments about the scribe well-founded. Further details on the video game adaptation should be forthcoming as the project develops.