Activision Blizzard Launches Activision Blizzard Studios to Create Original Film & TV Content Based on Iconic, Globally-Recog...
November 06 2015 - 1:15PM
Business Wire
Initial Productions to Include Skylanders™ TV
Series and Call of Duty™ Film Series
Disney Veteran Nick van Dyk Named Studio
Co-President
Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced the launch of
Activision Blizzard Studios, a new film and television studio
devoted to creating original content based on the company’s
extensive library of iconic and globally-recognized intellectual
properties. Activision Blizzard’s owned content includes some of
the most popular entertainment franchises in the world, including
Call of Duty®, Skylanders®, Diablo®,
Hearthstone® and StarCraft®. Former Disney executive
Nick van Dyk has been tapped to co-head the division, along with a
senior creative executive who will be announced soon.
Activision Blizzard Studios’ first production will be
“Skylanders™ Academy,” an animated TV series based on the
award-winning Skylanders® game. Currently in production under the
supervision of showrunner Eric Rogers (“Futurama”), “Skylanders™
Academy” will feature the voices of Justin Long (“Alvin and the
Chipmunks,” “Ask Me Anything”) as Spyro, Ashley Tisdale (“Phineas
and Ferb,” “High School Musical”) as Stealth Elf, Jonathan Banks
(“Breaking Bad,” “Better Call Saul”) as Eruptor and Norm Macdonald
(“Saturday Night Live”) as Glumshanks. Additional voice talent
includes Harland Williams and Richard Horvitz. The award-winning,
$3 billion Skylanders® franchise has sold through more than 250
million toys since pioneering the toys-to-life category in
2011i.
Another near-term initiative for Activision Blizzard Studios
will be the development of a robust cinematic universe based on the
Call of Duty franchise. Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare
remains the number one-selling title on next-generation consolesii
and today marks the launch of the highly-anticipated new Call of
Duty®: Black Ops III. Activision Blizzard Studios envisions a
series of Call of Duty feature films as well as the possibility of
television adaptations.
“Activision Blizzard is home to some of the most successful
entertainment franchises in history, across any medium. With the
launch of Activision Blizzard Studios, our engaged fans can now
watch the games they love come to life across film and television,”
said Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard.
“Activision Blizzard Studios is yet another way we’re celebrating
our players and fans, and we expect that our film and television
productions will entertain and delight whole new audiences, as
well. I’m excited that Nick and his team will be leading this
important new growth opportunity for Activision Blizzard.”
Kotick added, “We intend to approach film and television
development with the same unwavering commitment to excellence we
are known for in game development.”
Nick van Dyk, formerly a long-time Walt Disney Company senior
executive, will serve as Activision Blizzard Studios’ Co-President,
alongside a top creative executive who will be announced soon. Van
Dyk will have responsibility for distribution, physical production,
strategy, finance and operations and will co-manage all aspects of
the studio. Before joining Activision Blizzard last year, van Dyk
spent nine years at Disney where, as Senior Vice President of
Corporate Strategy, he helped drive Disney’s focus on franchise
intellectual property and played a significant role in the
acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm. Prior to that, van
Dyk was part of Artisan Entertainment’s senior management team.
“Activision Blizzard Studios has the unique advantage of
starting with a library of world-class intellectual property that
includes some of the largest franchises which have not yet been
developed in film and television,” said van Dyk. “Our library spans
more than 30 years of global entertainment culture and, in the last
12 months alone, fans of Activision Blizzard properties have played
and watched our games online for more than 13 billion hours. This
gives us a huge, passionate and deeply-engaged audience that is
hungry for more great content built from the universes they already
know and love—and which are extremely broad in their appeal.”
Van Dyk added, “Activision Blizzard Studios is not just an
exciting new business for our company, it is a synergistic
complement to our core business. Our movies and shows will benefit
from the remarkable IP created in our games and will further
increase the awareness of, engagement with and passion for our
franchises.”
Activision Blizzard Studios is another important step in the
company’s strategy of expanding the platforms through which it
offers its compelling intellectual property to existing fans and
new audiences around the world.
The founding of Activision Blizzard Studios follows the
company’s announcement on Oct. 22 of a new esports division headed
by former ESPN CEO Steve Bornstein and Major League Gaming
co-founder and president Mike Sepso. The esports division will
build on the company’s competitive gaming leadership by creating
all-new ways to deliver the best-in-class fan experience across
games, platforms and geographies, furthering the development of its
world-leading esports ecosystem. Activision Blizzard’s other
divisions are Activision Publishing and Blizzard Entertainment. On
Nov. 2, the company announced its plans to acquire King Digital
Entertainment, the creators of the Candy Crush®, Farm
Heroes®, Pet Rescue® and Bubble Witch®
franchises, which will make it a new global leader in mobile
gaming.
About Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard, Inc., a member of the S&P 500, is the
world’s most successful standalone interactive entertainment
company. It develops and publishes games based on some of the most
beloved entertainment franchises, including Call of
Duty®, Destiny, Skylanders®, Guitar Hero®, World of Warcraft®,
StarCraft®, Diablo®, and Hearthstone®: Heroes of
Warcraft™. The company is one of the FORTUNE “100 Best
Companies To Work For®” 2015. Headquartered in Santa Monica,
California, it has operations throughout the world, and its games
are played in 196 countries. Activision Blizzard makes games for
leading interactive platforms. More information about Activision
Blizzard and its products can be found on the company's
website, www.activisionblizzard.com.
i NPD, GfK and internal estimatesii NPD, Gfk Retail Sales
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151106005832/en/
Activision Blizzard, Inc.Elizabeth Ashford, 424-272-3015Senior
Director, Global
CommunicationsElizabeth.Ashford@Activision.comor42WestJulie Mathis,
424-901-8715Julie.Mathis@42West.net
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