Grand Theft Auto could soon join World of Warcraft on the silver screen.
Take-Two Interactive and Activision Blizzard are in "an emerging romance," according to analyst Mike Hickey. Reportedly, the two companies are interested in working together to tackle Hollywood.
"For Activision, acquiring Take-Two Interactive would be a no-brainer, in our view, circling some of the strongest development talent and owned IP in the world, within a company that has nearly $1 billion in cash and trades at a comparably lower multiple," Hickey said.
Take-Two has had issues with getting a BioShock film made, but Activision has a "World of Warcraft" film currently in production, for release in March 2016. It is being directed by Duncan Jones, the filmmaker behind "Moon" and "Source Code."
With the popularity of Rockstar Games franchises such as Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, Hollywood adaptations make a lot of sense. Reportedly, the Houser brothers, the founders of Rockstar, have been seeking to make a GTA film.
Take-Two's franchises Borderlands and XCOM would also be rich fodder for film adaptations. Beyond Warcraft, Activision's Call of Duty, Skylanders and Diablo franchises could work as movies. Activision's deal to publish Bungie's Destiny games, could also mean a Destiny film down the road.
"With the acquisition of Take-Two Interactive, Activision would have arguably the three strongest development studios in the world with Rockstar Games, Bungie and Blizzard," said Hickey.
Considering Call of Duty is a $1 billion per-year franchise and Skylanders has over $2 billion in revenue, and that the latest Grand Theft Auto having over 35 million copies sold and revenue over $2 billion, the combined company would be a force to reckon with.
In 2008, one of the other huge game publishers, Electronic Arts, attempted to buy Take-Two Interactive for $2 billion, but the deal was rejected by Take-Two for being undervalued.
In the mean time, both companies will continue to release huge sellers. Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition was recently released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Destiny will be released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on September 9. Skylanders: Trap Team will be released for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii and Wii U on October 5.
Borderlands: The Pre-sequel is coming out for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on October 14. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will be released for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 3. The latest Warcraft expansion, Warlords of Draenor, will be released for PC on November 13. An enhanced version of Grand Theft Auto V for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will be released in 2015.
