Entertainment

Taylor Sheridan’s New Adaptation Of War Franchise Hits Major Milestone

Nairavoice · Oct 23, 2026 · 4 min read

Taylor Sheridan is taking a very specific path in adapting Call of Duty for the screen.

Development on an adaptation of Activision’s blockbuster war franchise had been lingering for nearly a decade before Paramount picked up the rights to the series in late 2025, with Sheridan coming onboard a month later as co-writer and co-producer on the film alongside American Primeval‘s Peter Berg, who is directing. After months of quiet progress, the studio later announced at 2026’s CinemaCon that Call of Duty is set for a June 30, 2028 release date, with Berg confirming it would pull from the Modern Warfare games.

Now, in an interview with ComicBook.com for his new World War II drama The Mosquito Bowl, Peter Berg was asked about the development of the Call of Duty movie, which he is directing and co-writing with Taylor Sheridan. Berg teased that the film has hit a major milestone with he and Sheridan having a story in place for the war franchise adaptation, promising an authentic translation of the Modern Warfare games to the screen and exploring the “very nuanced storylines” of the sub-franchise, as well as the “real soul” at the core of them:

Peter Berg: So Modern Warfare, if you really look at the missions, and the storylines, and the characters – like Captain Price, and Soap, and Ghost, and Alex – these are complicated humans. These are not – and no disrespect – cartoon characters or comic books. And, yes, there’s violence, and there’s hardware and equipment, and there’s killing – but underneath it, I think the game, and the craters [sic] of the game, are really looking at the cost of war, the cost of having to be a warrior who’s, for whatever reason, chosen to put himself between real danger and the rest of us, and the burden that these guys carry.
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Peter Berg: So Modern Warfare, if you really look at the missions, and the storylines, and the characters – like Captain Price, and Soap, and Ghost, and Alex – these are complicated humans. These are not – and no disrespect – cartoon characters or comic books. And, yes, there’s violence, and there’s hardware and equipment, and there’s killing – but underneath it, I think the game, and the craters [sic] of the game, are really looking at the cost of war, the cost of having to be a warrior who’s, for whatever reason, chosen to put himself between real danger and the rest of us, and the burden that these guys carry.

The decision to set the Call of Duty movie in the world of the Modern Warfare games certainly doesn’t come as too much of a surprise when looking at the sheer popularity of the titles. With seven games across both the original and rebooted timelines, the majority rank among the franchise’s highest-selling games, with both 2011’s Modern Warfare III and the initial 2019 reboot each amassing over 30 million in sales.

Much to Berg’s point, the Modern Warfare games have largely received better reviews than their Call of Duty counterparts for their focus on real-world-inspired storytelling in lieu of a focus on set pieces and high-concept stories. This has also often put the games in the hot seat over its depictions of certain international regions, particularly the Middle East and Russia, with Modern Warfare 2‘s “No Russian” mission remaining one of the franchise’s most polarizing and controversial.

Also to Berg’s point is that while he and Sheridan have plenty of experience in action-filled titles, the majority of their works have aimed to focus on the characters at the core of them. They also both have experience in films regarding modern forms of warfare, with Sheridan garnering rave reviews for his first Sicario and modest reviews for its sequel, while Berg garnered both critical acclaim with the Mark Wahlberg-starring Lone Survivor and split critics down the middle on the star-studded The Kingdom.

What will now be interesting to see is where in the Modern Warfare continuity Berg and Sheridan’s Call of Duty movie is aiming to set its story, and whether it will include any of the games’ iconic characters. The fact that the director/co-writer is clearly keeping them in mind while putting his adaptation together may point to him having plans to include them in some capacity, and given Captain Price remains the face of the sub-franchise, a cameo from the character could prove a charming nod to fans of the games.