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Sony is in talks to acquire Christopher McQuarrie and Michael B. Jordan’s big-screen adaptation of the popular “Battlefield” video game after a multi-studio bidding war.
Sony declined to comment on the negotiations.
McQuarrie is attached to write, direct and produce the feature adaptation of Electronic Arts’ military first-person shooter game, with Jordan attached to produce. The newly minted best actor Oscar winner could star in the film, but that’s dependent on several factors.
Additional producers include Electronic Arts’ Jesse Stern, Emerald Neon’s Carter Swan, Vertigo’s Roy Lee and Miri Yoon of Vertigo and Outlier Society president Elizabeth Raposo.
Electronic Arts’ “Battlefield” franchise launched in 2002 with the World War II-set “Battlefield 1942.” The games focus on large-scale, online multiplayer battles between opposing military forces. Over the next twenty years, the games and their expansion packs focused on historical events, alternate history and future conflicts. “Battlefield 6,” the 18th installment of the series, was released last year and is set between 2027 and 2028, with a storyline that centers on a conflict between a fractured NATO and a private military company. The game went on to become the bestselling first-person shooter of the year (and in the franchise’s history), eclipsing Activision’s “Call of Duty.”
To note: “Call of Duty” is also getting the big-screen treatment at Paramount, with Peter Berg set to direct from a script by “Yellowstone” scion Taylor Sheridan. The studio previewed the long-awaited film adaptation of the hit video game franchise as part of its CinemaCon presentation earlier this month; the “Call of Duty” movie is dated for theatrical release on June 30, 2028.
McQuarrie takes on “Battlefield” as his next mission after (seemingly) wrapping up Tom Cruise’s tenure as secret agent Ethan Hunt in the long-running “Mission: Impossible” movie franchise with last year’s “The Final Reckoning.” McQuarrie is set to direct Arnold Schwarzenegger in a third Conan the Barbarian movie, titled “King Conan.” He’s also working with Cruise on his upcoming outer-space shot movie, directed by Doug Liman.
Jordan is no stranger to the world of video game IP. The actor starred as Navy SEAL John Clark in Tom Clancy’s “Without Remorse” for Amazon and has been developing an adaptation of “Rainbow Six” as a follow-up film. Before that, though, Jordan stars in, directs and produces a reimagining of “The Thomas Crown Affair” for Amazon MGM Studios, which hits theaters on March 5, 2027. He will also star as suave South Florida detective Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs opposite Austin Butler’s James “Sonny” Crockett in Universal’s “Miami Vice ’85.”
McQuarrie is represented by CAA; Jordan is represented by 1v1 Entertainment, WME, Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole and 2PM Sharp.
TheWrap first reported the news that Sony is the current frontrunner in negotiations for the “Battlefield” movie.
