Activision taps ‘Hateful Eight’ producer for studio venture

Producer Stacey Sher is joining the newly-launched Activision Blizzard Studios, where she will serve as co-president alongside Nick van Dyk. This is a joint production between Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures that went through years of development hell and director changes before finally entering production in 2013. The majority of the projects that she’s worked on have been highly successful, so she’ll be a natural fit if the new Activision Blizzard venture is to find success. We are likely to hear more about these and other projects soon now that both Sher and Van Dyk are in place. “I’m excited about our mandate to create filmed entertainment based on Activision Blizzard games that is as great as the games themselves”, said Stacey Sher, co-president of Activision Blizzard Studios.

Activision Blizzard is intent on elbowing its way into the movie business.

Sher, who takes up the new post immediately, told THR that she chose to sign on after meeting Kotick, explaining, “We hit it off. We started talking about this extraordinary, enormous amount of first-rate, unique, inspired IP”. Said Sher: “We’re not backing into a release date because there’s a hole in the schedule”.

The unveiling of the studios is part of a series of moves by Activision Blizzard to diversify its business beyond PC and console video games.

“As its large and loyal fanbase can attest, Activision Blizzard has created franchises that mean so much to audiences over the course of 35 years”, said Sher.

Sher said she was intrigued by the opportunity to adapt such well-established titles, with devoted fan followings, into compelling films and TV shows with stories and characters that honor the original franchise.

A children’s animated show based on the Skylanders line of toys and games is already in the works, with plans to produce a cinematic adaptation of the wildly-popular Call of Duty series in the near future. A number of distributors and production partners have been clamoring to form alliances with the new studio, the co-presidents said.

Blizzard Studios has not yet set a timetable for its first releases.

A movie based on Warcraft, another franchise under Activision-Blizzard’s umbrella of intellectual property, is also arriving to theaters.