HaloMovie Tagged Articles at Cinematical

A few days ago, our very own Kevin Kelly shared with us news of Halo's untimely demise, as Universal and Fox (in what seemed like a very sudden move, but was apparently bound to happen for awhile now) backed out of the project citing directorial concerns and monetary issues. Microsoft, however, is not deterred by such minor trivialities, and continues on unchecked. Their official statement says: "We are disappointed that Universal and Fox wanted to significantly renegotiate the financial points of the deal, but the Halo franchise is hugely popular, and our goal remains the same --to find a partner that shares our passion and will creatively collaborate with us to best represent the story and spirit of the Halo franchise." Microsoft also claims to already be in discussions with several other companies, in a statement which sounds very much like what your best friend tells you after he broke up with his long time girlfriend. You know, the "it's okay, this just means I can play the field now. Trust me, there are all kinds of ladies interested in this action," speech.

Look, Microsoft, I know you are an enormous, all powerful juggernaut and are very, very used to getting your own way. But you need to face facts here: the universe simply does not want to allow a good video game movie to happen.

One thing we knew for sure about the (eventually) upcoming Halo movie was that the screenplay was written by Alex Garland, he of frequent (The Beach, 28 Days Later, and the slick-looking Sunshine) Danny Boyle collaborations. Now comes word, however, that novelist-turned-screenwriter D.B. Weiss has been given second draft duty by Halo producer Peter Jackson.

But who, exactly, is D.B. Weiss? According to this interview, he's a writer who's pretty well-versed in video games, which certainly helps when you're adapting something like Halo for the silver screen. Mr. Weiss is also the author of a very well-received novel called Lucky Wander Boy, which deals with a guy obsessed with obscure video games (and is also a book I now plan to read). Plus he's also the umpteenth writer to get a whack at the Ender's Game screenplay, and maybe he'll actually be the one who finishes the job ...

Anyway, if you love movies and video games in equal measure, check out this solid interview with Weiss. Guy seems to be someone I'd trust with a project like Halo. Then again, I thought Pitof would be the perfect guy to direct Catwoman.

(Previous Halo reports can be found here, here, and here.)

Not too very long ago, the AP reported on a meeting between the all-powerful Peter Jackson (this generation's George Lucas, in some regards) and highly-talented actor Denzel Washington. At the time, it was thought they were discussing a deal which would result in Washington directing a Jackson produced flick. That may well still be the case, but a new rumor is floating around out there, as reported by IGN Filmforce. Unspecified and unsubstantiated talk is floating about which suggests Denzel Washington may land the lead role of Master Chief in Jackson's upcoming Halo project, based on the popular video game title.

I'm a big fan of Washington. The man's got a great voice, and as vocal talent is particularly important to a character who spends most of his existence under a helmet, I imagine it'd be a good match. He certainly is not the first (or probably even 20th) name which would have sprang to my mind, but I'm not the guy in charge of casting. Personally, I see no reason to not cast voice actor Steve Downes in the role. He could at least do the voice work, James Earl Jones as Darth Vader style. He is the worldwide recognized voice of Master Chief at this point, isn't he?

Much has been made of the coming Halo flick, particularly as the film with the most potential to finally break through the video-game-to-movie stigma and deliver unto us a great film based on a popular video game. This hope has taken another small setback, however, as the film's release date is rumored to have been bumped back into 2008 sometime. This has caused some to speculate that the anticipated film is locked up in what studios infamously call "development hell," a worrisome state indeed. The script still exists, and the studio (and Bungie) are still supposedly happy with it, so hope is certainly not lost yet. It's just wandering around wishing it had brought a map.

I continue to wonder about the wisdom of this film. Granted, it has an appreciable built-in audience base and a good premise for solid alien action -- but hey, so did AVP. Can the video game story line of Halo support a silver screen movie? I think the answer to is probably yes, as movies have been written on far, far worse story lines in the past. The question really lies with the studio, and whether they can bring us a desirable product.

As the comic book to movie trend continues to storm forward like The Juggernaut (except...like the real Juggernaut, not that worrisome weakling Vinnie Jones seems to be portraying), the third element of the nerd trifecta - video games - continues its valiant (and so far futile) effort to join the party. The relationship between video games and comic books is admittedly more solid than the relationship between video games and feature films - but that's just not enough, apparently. The latest best hope for a reasonable VG movie is gamer favorite Halo, which carries a strong and current fan base into the capable arms of director "Hellboy" Del Toro and producer Peter "Hobbit" Jackson.

I hear you out there in readerland saying "Get to the point, captain geek. We know this already." Well, the latest news on the block is that Halo is, in fact, broadening its licensing rights to stretch into the comic book world as well. Bungie Studios is partnering with Marvel's publishing muscle to produce The Halo Graphic Novel, which will anthologize the stories of the first and second game and include a spiffy selection of Halo-inspired artwork from several artists. So...will Halo be successful as both a movie AND comic book spin off? And if it is, will we see an increased barrage of video game properties being licensed out into movies and comic books? Synergy, people!