Halo Officially Halted by Jackson and Microsoft
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, Newsstand, Games and Game Movies
As Kevin previously reported, both Universal Studios and 20th Century Fox recently pulled out of their commitment to co-finance the big-screen adaptation of the hugely popular Halo video game, citing concerns over a rising budget and novice director Neil Boekamp. Even though both studios dropped out, Halo developer Microsoft and Executive Producer Peter Jackson, through a statement made by his agent, expressed optimism that the film would eventually find new backers and still be made. Because of this, pre-production work on the film would continue until those backers were secured and the film could move forward with its new financing.Apparently, their patience with the "looking for new backers" process was short-lived because according to a joint statement made today by Peter Jackson's Wingnut Films and Microsoft, pre-production on Halo is being officially and immediately halted. According to the statement:
"As was previously confirmed, we deeply regret that both Universal and Fox did not choose to move forward with financing the Halo film under the original terms of the agreement. At this time Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, along with their partner, Microsoft, have mutually agreed to postpone making a feature film based on the Halo video game universe until we can fulfill the promise we made to millions of Halo fans throughout the world that we would settle for no less than bringing a first class film to the big screen. We are fully supportive of Director Neill Blomkamp's vision of the film. Neill is a tremendously gifted filmmaker and his preliminary work on Halo is truly awe-inspiring. While it will undoubtedly take a little longer for Halo to reach the big screen, we are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait."
That's a nice thought and I'm glad they're so confident. But now that two studios have pulled out and production has been officially halted, it seems like it will take even more effort to get things going again -- even if they do eventually secure financing. I trust Peter Jackson and if he says the Halo movie will eventually happen, then I guess it might.
Still, with all the trouble the Halo movie has had before it ever really got going, maybe its time to put the project to rest for good. After all, movies adapted from video games seldom perform very well at the box office (or in the minds of critics) and more than likely Halo would face the same fate. Like it or not, its hard to live up to so much hype; as much as fans might want the movie to happen, it would still be a huge gamble for any backer choosing to finance the film at this point. Besides, sometimes it's just better to cut your losses and move on.
What say you? Should the Halo movie live or die?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-31-2006 @ 8:44AM
Zeta said...
I think that Neil would've done a great job with the movie. I mean, have you seen this guy's short films? They're freaking awesome! Mark my words, he's gonna come out and make some radical movie, the Halo movie is gonna end up sucking, and Peter Jackson and Microsoft are gonna feel like fu**ing retards.
Reply
10-31-2006 @ 9:44AM
Stephen said...
Unlike many of the other movies based on a video game (ie Doom, and other that were so bad I've forgotten them) I think Halo was the one video game that had the necessary plot and dramatic backdrop to make a quality movie. The story in Doom was just an excuse to shoot big scary monsters which doesn't translate well into a good movie. Halo I think has a great story to create a movie around, you have the Humans, The Covenant, The Flood, and the somewhat mysterious Forerunners. One of the reasons it was such a successful video game (in addition to awesome game play) was the consuming edge of your seat story that ran through both Halo 1 and 2. In addition to the fact that Peter Jackson someone who actually plays video games being involved in the project gives me great confidence that it would have come out a great movie that other people than just people who played Halo would like. I do however share the studios concerns over a first time director taking on such a project, not that I doubt his skill as a director(nor have i seen any of his work) but I am concerned over his ability to apply that skill over managing such a huge project. Perhaps something smaller in the full length feature would be good start with and give the studio (and halo fans) some confidence in him.
But hey thats just my opinion I could be wrong
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10-31-2006 @ 10:09AM
Philipp Eigenmann said...
I think Microsoft should buy one of the smaller studios and produce it themselves... Or just turn Wingnut into a major... Just do the movie and prove that Uwe Boll isn't the peak of "game-to-film" movies... PLEASE!
;-)
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10-31-2006 @ 12:05PM
Steve Lang said...
The Halo universe is a pretty good one, better than most in terms of story potential.
But the thing is, I wonder about a movie where the main character is guy with a shield covering his face the whole time. In the games Master Chief is a somewhat robotic-acting super soldier. We had Kurt Russel in SOLDIER already as well as a Van Damme flick, neither of which were very good. Not sure where they could take this one, besides spending about $200 million on explosions and cool sets and guns.
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10-31-2006 @ 8:33PM
Joe Jepsen said...
I don't understand why this film needs to be financed by an outside company.. doesn't microsoft have all the dough they need to bake it?
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10-31-2006 @ 9:21PM
big mac 85 said...
live
why not take a chance
who cares just wing it
c how it goes
c'mon jackson dont tell me you're afraid
of taking a little risk
who knows this could be the first big movie based off
a videogame
Reply
11-01-2006 @ 11:22AM
Stephen said...
I've got I know who should play the master chief, Hugo Weaving, he did such a great job as V and we never saw his face I think he does have the voice to do the MC and be able to play the character even though we never see his face
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