Halo (film)



Rumors of a Halo Movie had been heard for a while, but in 2004 it was officially confirmed by Bungie. While the movie was intended to be handled by 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures, both pulled out of the deal due to unknown reasons. It would have been a live-action movie, but with a heavy amount of CGI. Wingnut Films, the team behind Lord of the Rings and King Kong, was working on the movie. In October 2006, the movie was postponed indefinitely until new distributors can be found. Before the movie was delayed it was revealed that the film would have been filmed in Wellington, New Zealand and was slated for a summer 2009 release. To keep the film's producers true to the Halo Universe, Bungie prepared an exhaustive encyclopedia known to some as either the "Halo Compendium" or the Halo Story Bible, describing nearly every topic in the Halo games and novels including graphics of characters, species and vessels.

"Halowood"
"If we ever make a Halo movie, who would you want to write it? So, I asked Marty as we exited the theater, "I bet that Garland guy would be all over the Flood."

- Joseph Staten mentioned the following after seeing 28 Days Later

Because Alex Garland is indeed the writer, it is reasonable to expect Flood. Staten also guaranteed that there will be Grunts.

Peter Jackson, a Halo fan, was confirmed as executive producer for the film. While it was assumed that he would also direct, the announcement of Neill Blomkamp as director proved that speculation as false, Jackson said he was tired after spending so much time on King Kong, and that Halo would have been a break. Blomkamp is an acclaimed director of short films and commercials. He has also won Clios and a Visual Effects Society Award, and was nominated for an Emmy for his work on James Cameron's TV series Dark Angel.

Script
A website called LatinoReview.com has posted a script review of the upcoming Halo movie; Rampancy.net asserts that it's credible; however, Bungie has said the story is not yet completed.

Joseph Staten has stated that what would have been the "final" script for the film would have had the Master Chief as a secondary, though still important, character, taking a back seat to others for story telling purposes.

"Where the Master Chief doesn't have a face... That's hard to carry as a main character for an entire film. But you can certainly surround him with people who don't have helmets on and you can see their faces."

- Joseph Staten

Crew
Director - Neill Blomkamp

Producer - Peter Schlessel

Executive Producer - Peter Jackson

Screenplay Writers - Alex Garland (First Draft) & D.B. Weiss (Revisions)

Timeline

 * Summer of 2002 - With the success of Halo: Combat Evolved, Hollywood producers voice interest about making a Halo movie. Concerns over creative control sink the idea, "thanks but no thanks" said Joseph Staten.
 * 2004 before Halo 2 launch - A Hollywood player, Peter Schlessel starts to meet with Bungie staff to discuss movie plans. He proposes that instead of leaving it up to Hollywood, "Finance the script yourselves, Hire a writer, have him write something you love, then bring it to Hollywood with a simple message: ‘This is the movie we want to make. Who wants to make it with us?'". On the list of Schlessel approved writers is Alex Garland who Bungie pick for reasons listed in above article.
 * February 3, 2005, Creative Artists Agency confirmed that Microsoft had completed a million-dollar deal with Alex Garland to write a screenplay based on the video game series Halo, which would then be offered to studios.
 * June 7, 2005 Microsoft released Garland's completed screenplay to various Hollywood studios on June 7, 2005, looking to be paid a $10 million fee as well as the studio's agreement to adhere to guidelines set by the game's developers. Microsoft also wanted the studio to seek approval over the director and cast. In addition, Microsoft sought full merchandising rights for itself, a minimum $75 million budget, and company representatives' full access to the film's rough cuts in Los Angeles. Studios like Paramount, DreamWorks, Sony, and Warner Bros. did not want to cede creative rights to the film and passed over the project.
 * June 2005 - 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios entered negotiations with Microsoft to divide the distribution rights of Halo. The original $10 million deal was reduced based on the studios' negative response to the exorbitant price tag. In the negotiations, Universal gained rights to release the film in North America, where Fox would distribute the film overseas. On August 22, 2005, Microsoft's deal with the studios was announced to be finalized, with summer 2008 as the target release date.
 * October 4, 2005, Bungie Studios announced that director Peter Jackson was signed onto the project as an executive producer.
 * July 13, 2006, author D.B. Weiss revealed in an interview that he was writing the screenplay for Halo. At the time of the interview, Weiss said that he was working on his second draft of the new script, which contained elements of the project's original screenplay by Alex Garland.
 * Aug, 2006 - Neill Blomkamp is picked by Jackson as the director of the Halo movie.
 * In late October, 2006, Variety magazine reported that screenwriter Josh Olson (A History of Violence) was working on the latest rewrite.
 * October 20, 2006 - Universal and Fox pull out of deal. Universal, on behalf of both studios, asked for a meeting with the filmmakers just prior to the due date of a significant payment. Basically, they said that in order to move forward with the film, the filmmakers had to significantly reduce [the percentage of profits they would receive from the film]. They waited until the last minute to have this conversation. Peter and Fran, after speaking with their producing partners and with Microsoft and Bungie, respectfully declined. The project lives on and Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop is continuing to work on the film while Microsoft locks down another partner.
 * October 31, 2006 - Producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, along with Microsoft, are putting the much-anticipated Halo movie into production hell, or where a film has stopped in the production stage. Following recent reports that development of the film would continue in spite of studio backers Fox and Universal dropping out, a press release being distributed by Jackson's WingNut Films today confirms that Halo is being indefinitely postponed. Here's their statement regarding the film, sure to be greeted with howls of discontent by fans:


 * May 21, 2007 In an interview with Cinematical.com, Peter Jackson stated that he expected the project to continue soon, once the movie studios "catch a glimpse of the Halo hype first-hand" (with the release of Halo 3)..
 * July 5th, 2007 Unconfirmed rumors began to circulate that 20th Centurty Fox would pickup rights with the movie, however they were never confirmed, putting the development of the Halo movie in question, once again.
 * October 4th, 2007 Halo Movie is announced dead by director Neil Blomkamp.
 * October 5th, 2007 Frank O'Connor says in an interview with Game Informer that "nobody can declare it [the film] dead except for the owner of the IP [Microsoft]" in response to Blomkamp's statement.
 * October 29th, 2007 Ken Kamins, Peter Jackson's representative, has confirmed in an interview that the Halo film is still in pre-production phase. "What happened was this: Universal, on behalf of both studios, asked for a meeting with the filmmakers just prior to the due date of a significant payment," says Kamins. "Basically, they said that in order to move forward with the film, the filmmakers had to significantly reduce their deals. They waited until the last minute to have this conversation. Peter and Fran, after speaking with their producing partners and with Microsoft and Bungie, respectfully declined." According to Kamins would-be director Blomkamp has not been dropped either, in spite of his earlier statements:
 * January 18th, 2008 Bungie mentions in its weekly update that the Halo movie is still on hold, but they post pictures of armor and weapon replicas made by Weta's Workshop that were used in the Halo: Arms Race short films.
 * April 1st, 2008 G.I. Joe screenwriter Stuart Beattie says 3 Halo movies are going to be made. First one being Halo: Fall of Reach, second being Halo: The Rise of the Flood, and last one being Halo: The Battle of Earth. However, this is more likely an April fool's joke
 * June 14th, 2008 Gamepro Magazine releases issue featuring the Halo film. This article disappointed fans who were anticipating the movie soon, for there is no confirmed date.
 * Late June 2008 Peter Jackson releases statement saying, "With upcoming developments, (Halo:Chronicles) I wouldn't know when to expect a movie, and I'm the producer."

Rating
In an interview with Peter Jackson it was discussed that the rating most likely to be set by the studio would be PG-13 or higher as the game itself is rated as Mature, although discussions have been planned on the possibility of an R version for the "hardcore" fans.

Other
There are also a variety of Halo props built by Weta Workshop. Even though they were made for the Halo: Landfall short films, and not for the actual film, they give a good indication of the quality the eventual film may have been or may yet have.

According to LatinoReview, writer Stuart Beattie, also rumored to have written the script for Spy Hunter and confirmed to have penned the script for the GI Joe movie and involved in writing the Gears of War movie script, has written unofficial scripts for Halo: The Fall of Reach, a film based purely on the first game titled Halo: Rise of the Flood, and Halo: Battle for Earth taking place during Halo 3 ; however, it should be noted that this information was posted on April 1st, and should be regarded with a skeptical eye.