So now that Halo 3 has officially hit stores (in a ginormous way), folks are probably wondering whether Halo: The Movie would start picking up some pre-strike steam. I swear, it's the oddest project I've ever come across. The friggin' video game is a monster -- I mean a real whale here -- and yet Hollywood is avoiding the movie as if it were the plague. I shouldn't really blame all of Hollywood; primarily we're talking Universal and Fox, both of whom originally attempted to team up on the project. But after months of arguing over who really took the cookie from the cookie jar, the project was put to rest. Now, Neill Blomkamp, the relative unknown who was originally tapped by Peter Jackson to direct the Halo film, speaks out about what happened, where the project is now and what his Halo movie would've looked like.

Blomkamp spoke to Creativity Online, and among other things in the interview, he says, "The film is entirely dead. Whatever happens with that movie, assuming that movie gets made, will be a totally different configuration. It's not so much me as the entire vessel sank. Basically, it was a combination of; there were two studios involved that weren't getting along in the process of making it, Universal and Fox. That kind of stuff happens, it's a fragile industry. So the film collapsed at the end of last year, and it's been dead, ever since then. I'll be curious to see what happens." Blomkamp also talks about the three promotional shorts he made for Halo 3, and how none of them had anything to do with a potential movie. Those were made specifically to promote Halo 3, although fans (like me) looked at them as more of a tease.

It really is a shame, and I hope people from Universal and Fox read this, because this dude Neill Blomkamp would've made an amazing Halo film, unlike any video game adaptation out there. Just check out some of the things he says about his vision: "I wanted it to feel like the most brutal, real version of science fiction in a war environment that you've seen in a while. And Universal was on board with that. I don't really remember what Fox thought about it, but Universal seemed down with it. It would have been cool, it would have been a unique take on things, science fiction in a dirty, organic way." So then what the hell happened? Why couldn't they get this done? Apparently there were budgetary concerns, but I would've taken the chance. Who knows what will happen from here, but rest assured Halo: The Movie directed by Neill Blomkamp will soon join the growing list of films that should've been made, but never were.

[Thanks to Shawn for the tip]

Not long ago, 20th Century Fox and Universal had struck a deal with Microsoft to bring their most popular video game, Halo, to the big screen. Producer Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) felt comfortable assigning newbie director Neill Blomkamp the task of creating a live action flick (with help from screenwriter Alex Garland), but just when casting rumors began to circulate, the project died on the operating table. Fans everywhere were crushed, and both studios just didn't feel confident enough to invest in a big-budgeted video game adaptation when other such films hadn't performed well at the box office. Recently, Jackson went on record with OnFilm Magazine noting that he expects Fox and Universal to change their minds once they see how nuts people get for the latest Halo installment, Halo 3. Well, it looks like Microsoft, Blomkamp and WETA Digital took things a step further ...

During the E3 conference yesterday, Microsoft unveiled a number of Halo-related goodies; one of which was a live-action teaser helmed by the Halo would-be director, Neill Blomkamp. With help from WETA, Blomkamp cut together a pretty enticing little teaser -- featuring a bunch of soldiers preparing for battle -- in the hopes (I assume) to not only promote the new game, but also give Fox and Universal a taste of what he envisions a film version would ultimately look like. (Note: After you click on the link above, scroll down to Halo Arms Race, as that's the trailer Blomkamp directed.) Personally, I wasn't immediately jazzed by it (some of the shots looked like stock photos of an auto-parts factory), but apparently this isn't the only one Blomkamp created. Thus, we can expect to see more in the coming months leading up to the official release of Halo 3. Will Jackson's predictions turn out to be true? Will Fox and Universal see enough to warrant another greenlight? It's still up in the air, but I wouldn't be surprised if, come this fall, we get word that a Halo movie is in the works once again.