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Halo is an upcoming film based on the video game series under the same name, developed by Bungie Studios. The script for the movie was to be written by Alex Garland, but it was dumped, and writer D.B. Weiss, writer of Lucky Wander Boy is set to write a new one. The movie will be developed and released by Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox, under the creative oversight of Microsoft. Former Columbia president Peter Schlessel has been selected as producer, and Peter Jackson will be the executive producer. Shooting has yet to begin, but due to the graphic content of the source material, the film will more than likely receive a PG-13 or R rating. It was to be released in Summer 2007, but as of June 2006, no directors or stars have even been confirmed, making that release window unlikely, even impossible.

Development

Microsoft developed the picture outside the studio system paying Garland $1 million to develop the script and hiring Peter Schlessel, a former executive at Columbia Pictures (Sony Pictures) to develop the project which is Microsoft's first entry into the movie business. The film is also unconventional in that Bungie Studios, the original developer of the game, retains significant creative control over the content of the film through Microsoft. This came about in an effort to avoid what some would call "Hollywoodizing" the Halo story. Many movies based on similar popular game franchises have fallen short of the expectations of gamers and failed to capture those unfamiliar with the original games. To keep the films producers true to the Halo Universe, Bungie has prepared an exhaustive encyclopedia describing almost every topic in the Halo games and novels including graphics of characters, species and vessels.

Microsoft delivered the script to the major film studios on June 6, 2005 with employees at Creative Artists Agency delivering the script dressed as Master Chief. E! Online reported that Microsoft set conditions such as Microsoft retaining merchandising rights, a $75 million budget and Microsoft having the rights to examine rough cuts of the movie. These conditions meant that many of the major film studios weren't interested in the project despite the success of the video game.

In late August 2005, an agreement was reached with Fox and Universal Studios. Under this agreement, Fox and Universal will pay Microsoft $5 million against 10% of the movie's gross. In regard to marketing, Universal owns all US rights and 20th Century Fox has marketing rights in other territories.

On September 17, 2005, IMDB posted that Uwe Boll had been chosen as the director of this project. Bungie Software later indicated this to be false. On September 21, 2005, IMDB removed the statement after creating controversy with die hard fans of the game series. Another rumor then began to circulate that Peter Jackson, who directed the blockbuster The Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, would direct. However, on October 4, 2005, Universal Studios announced that Jackson would be the executive producer for the film along with partner Fran Walsh, with Weta Digital providing the special effects -- all information which Bungie.net later confirmed.

In early November, 2005, Latino Review claimed to have obtained a copy of the Halo movie screenplay. Subsequently, a detailed synopses of the alleged script was published on their web site, focusing in detail on the plot and action at the beginning of the movie. Some have noted that the script review merely follows the original story set out in the Halo video game and Halo novel The Flood.

In mid-December of 2005, perhaps in reaction to a update on Bungie.net, IMDB posted that Guillermo del Toro had been chosen to direct the film, but later it was revealed that he was only "in talks". Statements attributed to Del Toro reveal that he is continuing his work on Hellboy 2, and would be happy to work on the Halo movie if the project is still available once Hellboy 2 is completed, but it is likely that another director will be found before then. As of June 2006, Peter Jackson was confirmed as having signed on to helm the project.

In early April of 2006, fans noticed that IMDb had updated the Halo movie's page to include Alex Proyas as director. Proyas has previously directed a few critically acclaimed movies including The Crow, Dark City, and I, Robot. No official statement has yet been made confirming or denying Proyas' involvement.

This movie is expected to be released sometime in 2007. Filming is likely to take place in New Zealand. Special effects company WETA Digital is based in New Zealand, and Peter Jackson has used the country's locales in past works—most notably The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

As of 6 May 2006, the Halo movie title on IMDB has changed back to just "Halo". Whether or not the title change was official or not is currently not known. Halo cinematic director and story script writer Joseph Staten, in a 22 April seminar at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, said that the Halo movie would not be a videogame adaptation, adding credibility to the temporary title change to "Fall of Reach", suggesting that the movie would be based off the eponymous novel and not directly off the videogame itself.

In April 2006, IMDb listed Kevin Allsworth as a rumored choice for the lead role of Master Chief. Allsworth has never done anything involved with film before, and is not a well-known actor. Lack of any information about him led many fans to believe that he is only a made-up person.

Denzel Washington has also been rumored for the role of Master Chief. If this rumour is to be true, it would be contradictory to the Halo novel universe, in which the Master Chief is described as a pale caucasian. However, other sources has falsified the rumor stating that Washington was only talking with Peter Jackson about the WETA for a movie Washington himself is going to direct.

In June 2006, IMDb changed the release date to 2008.

In July 2006, it was revealed that the film would be switching the script writer for the film from Alex Garland to DB Weiss. This will halt production of the film momentarily until the correct script is approved by producers.*

Plot

So far, there has been little public mention of what actors could star in the movie or what the plot could cover. The "Halo" story line involves the conflicts between humans intent on colonizing outer space and a religiously-based coalition of several alien species that wants to destroy mankind and activate the Sacred Rings, their word for the Halo space stations that give the game its name. The hero is a character named "Master Chief," a cybernetically enhanced super-soldier leading the charge to protect Earth from the encroaching aliens and from their fanatical attempts to activate the Sacred Rings, which were created to cleanse the galaxy of life in an attempt to contain the parasitic Flood. The Flood form a third faction that infects both the bodies and technologies of humans and the aliens.

Notes

See also

External references

Halo | 2007 films | Science fiction films | Films based on computer and video games | 20th Century Fox films | Universal films

Halo (film) | Halo (film) | Halo (film)

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Halo (film)".

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