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Halo Film Still On Track 70

Posted by Zonk
from the jackson-got-back dept.
Eurogamer reports that, despite the decision by Fox and Universal to back out of the movie's production, the film version of Halo will move forward. From the article: "Now Microsoft has released an official statement via the Bungie website which reads: '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 ... Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and the rest of the creative team are dedicated to ensuring the Halo movie becomes a reality,' the statement continues.

Halo Film Still On Track

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  • why? (Score:5, Funny)

    by krell (896769) on Monday October 23, 2006 @01:35PM (#16549698) Journal
    As time goes on, is there really much difference between watching leading-edge graphics video in demo mode, and a film of the game? Perhaps a "Halo" movie might be interesting if it had a running sarcastic commentary from sillouhette heads of Morgan Webb and Adam Sassler. On second thought, make sure to silhouette more than Morgan's head.
    • by Brigade (974884)
      Yes, there is a bit of difference. Remember Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within? That basically amounted to a 'leading-edge graphics video in demo mode.'
      • by krell (896769)
        "Yes, there is a bit of difference. Remember Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within? "

        Yes. Everyone had these inhumanly slow and fluid motions, especially of the head. As if each of the characters was suffering a horrible migraine during the whole picture. The "Spider-Man" digital cartoon that aired on MTV a few years ago had this exact same problem, even though the rest of the look was very different,
    • by malsdavis (542216) *
      I'd of thought the Hollywood guys would have got the message with Doom's amazing flop. It'd be a heck of a lot simpler for the lot of them to just chuck their money in a bin and set it alight.

      • by krell (896769)

        They could have literally videotaped someone's Doom session, spent a few minutes inserting here and there the already-available 3d model of The Rock's face (used in Mummy 2), and put this in theatres. Would you have known the difference?
        • by Criterion (51515)
          I know I would have. The movie is not NEARLY as interesting as watching someones actual game session. (yeah, I tried to watch it again today, and fell asleep.. AGAIN)
          • Let's put it this way: the credits, which is just a Doom-style shooting of all the names of the people who did the film while a NIN song is playing, were more interesting than the song itself.
            • Oops, than 'the movie itself'.
            • by jackbird (721605)
              Usually a different production company is hired to make the title sequence of a movie. And for most stuff coming out of Hollywood, it's the most interesting part of the film.
      • I might pay to see them set $200 million in $100 denominations on fire! How long will it take to burn up 2 million $100 bills?
        • by Trillan (597339)
          Pluto Nash x 2?
        • by malsdavis (542216) *
          No, No, No. They have to do it all at once for dramatic effect.
          Besides if they did it at a rate of one $100 bill a second it would take around 23 days according to my lousy maths skills.

          And watching them do that for 23 days would be almost as boring as watching the extended "director's cut" edition of the Doom movie!
          Although of course, 23 days still wouldn't be long enough for me to recite the entire list of plot holes in the film.
          (with the first hole being the complete lack of an actual plot!)

          And since you're probably not the only one who would want to see that (hell, if people only ever wanted to watch something original and interesting, the box offices would be deserted), they can use the money they make from the original and make a sequel! It's a neverending cycle* that will ruin the economy with anti-inflation! hurrah!
          *Until people get bored of the sequels.
  • Video game movies (Score:2, Interesting)

    by beavt8r (919284)
    I really hope they can recreate the feel of the game in the movie. We all know video game movies don't usually do well, but they have potential. I liked in Doom when they had the first-person perspective, i thought it was a great touch. I think I would watch the Halo movie (if it indeed does come out) just because of the many nights I've spent getting my butt kicked. With the huge popularity of the Halo series, I do hope it is a good movie.

    But, with the up and down of "Yes it will be made" and "No, w
  • I bet they could get more support if Jackson was the director instead of the producer.
    • Re:Peter? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by BewireNomali (618969) on Monday October 23, 2006 @02:00PM (#16549990)
      definitely. in fact this would be open/shut if peter jackson was directing. it's frankly puzzling why they chose the blomkamp guy when he AFAIK has not even directed a distributed feature yet. Not even one. It's tough to sell studios on that much cash and tell them that a guy who technically has never directed a movie before is in charge of what they'll see on-screen. in fact, that is a fool's errand on paper. especially given the mixed success of video game adaptations.

      Much goes on that isn't being disclosed.
      • by krell (896769)

        I think the success is going to be more and more mixed the more and more advanced the games get: the difference between a videogame film and the demo mode of the game itself is fast dwindling. Look for a "Halo" movie that, if placed as a long AVI clip in the intro sequence to the Halo 3 game (instead of in the theatres), nobody would really notice anything special.
        • I agree with you. Even Peter Jackson himself noted that he finds games more exciting these days than film.
      • "in fact, that is a fool's errand on paper."

        Not really. He's done a decent bit of animation in TV and film. He's directed one piece, but the reality of Hollywood is it's all about who you know. If Jackson is "vouching" for him that's a great start in many circles and enough that many times you would be able to keep a Fox or a Universal on board.
        • I work in film. I've seen his work. As much as I've heard, much of the conflict revolves around the studios refusing to put this much cash behind this film if he's directing. It only confirms the fact that they feel this to be a risky proposition for a first time director.

          I don't know of an instance where a 200 million dollar film is directed by a first time feature director. I don't think such an instance exists.

          The Jackson co-sign notwithstanding, I'm interested in a couple of things: why Peter isn't dire
  • Now that Anna Nicole Smith has replaced Paris Hilton as Cortana the project is back on track.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 23, 2006 @01:53PM (#16549884)
    =Oh? I didn't realize. He's your pal, is he? Your chum? Do you have any idea what that bastard almost made you do?!
    -Yes... Activate Halo's [financial] defenses, and destroy the [doubters], which is why we brought the [bag of money] to the control center.
    =You mean this? [holds up a sack-o-cash© of fanboy money]
    +A fanboy?! In the core?! That is absolutely unacceptable!
    =Sod off!
    +What impertinence! I shall purge you at once!
    =You sure that's a good idea?
    +How, how... How dare you! I'll-
    =Do what? I have the [money]! You can just float and sputter!
    -Enough! The flood [of disinterest] is spreading. If we activate Halo's [financial] defenses, we can wipe them out.
    =You have no idea how this [bankroll] works, do you? Why the forerunners built it? Halo doesn't kill flood, it kills their food. Humans, covenant, [fanboys,] whatever. We're all equally [disposible]. The only way to stop the flood is to starve them to death. And that's exactly what Halo is designed to do; wipe the galaxy clean of all [interest]. You don't believe me? Ask him.
    -Is this true?
    +(pauses) More or less. Technically, this [adaptation's] pulse has a maximum effective radius of twenty-five thousand [theaters]. But, once the others follow suit, this galaxy will be quite devoid of [interest], or at least any [interest] with sufficient [income] to sustain the flood. (pause) But you already knew that. I mean, how couldn't you?
    =Left out that little detail, did he?
    =Chief, I'm picking up movement!
    +Why would you hesitate to do what you have already done?
    =We need to go, right now.
    =There is no choice. We must activate the [bankroll].
    =(whispers in Master Chief's head) Get us out of here!
    +If you are unwilling to help, I will simply find another. Still, I must have the [money]. Give your [fanboys] to me, or I will be forced to take [them] from you.
    -That's not going to happen.
    +So be it. Save his [wallet]. Dispose of the rest.


  • by XNine (1009883) on Monday October 23, 2006 @01:55PM (#16549908)
    kick some Covenant ass, the credits will roll, leaving you with the same feeling that you had at the end of Halo 2.... "W...t....f...?"
    • by Gulthek (12570)
      WTF back at you. The Halo 2 ending was one of the best video game endings I've ever seen! I've never shouted, "Hell! Yeah!" at the tv after finishing a game before.

      It's not like the game was locked in production limbo (Shenmue, Psychonauts) where we aren't sure if we'll see another game. If that were the case then the ending would have sucked, majorly. But this is frakin' Halo. Of *course* we were going to get Halo 3.
  • Any idea who is going to play him?
  • Why don't they just trash the script as-is and set aside the rest of the budget to make a Red vs. Blue [] movie?
  • Something important to bear in mind: Halo was the game that defined the Xbox launch and led a lot to it's success. Halo 2 was THE game of the last console generation (fastest selling media in the US, $125 million in 24 hours) .. I have a lot of non-gamer friends that specifically bought X-Boxes and Halo 2 (as well as live subscriptions) just to play online together across the country. Now, if you actually have played the game, or seen the 'making of' DVD, you might change your perspective. They develope
    • by krell (896769)
      "But take into account the original games used to make the adaptation: Super Mario Bros...."

      I bet I'm not the only one here who definitely does NOT consider the Mario franchise to be "garbage".

      "developed the game a lot like an actual Hollywood production, with...."

      Yes, indeed. And, given that they have set the bar so high ALREADY and in a Hollywood-like fashion, is there really anything the movie experience can do other than be like sitting and watching someone else play a videogame on a big screen
      • by Brigade (974884)
        Granted, that was poorly stated. The Mario Bros. franchise itself isn't 'garbage' .. but turning a 2d (at the time) platformer with a very thin plot into a Hollywood production was, to term it lightly, a stretch.
        • by krell (896769)

          I actually think it is less of a stretch to make Mario (back then) into a movie. The game itself was so primitive and abstracted that it was not much of a challenge to make something distinctive (movie-wise) from the game itself. There was no "This movie is too much like a videogame demo" back then. I don't think the "Super Ma
      • by Keeper (56691)
        The game is fun. The story could be written on a single sheet of toilet paper.
      • by Gulthek (12570)
        The GP is talking about the *story*. I'm sure that you agree that the Mario *story* is garbage. The game itself is pure delicious gold, but the story?

        And I, for one, really enjoy watching someone else play videogames. Especially cinematically awesome games like Halo 2, Resident Evil 4, Psychonauts, Condemned, Indigo Prophecy, etc.
    • Hot babe kidnapped by nasty gang. Boyfriend and his brother kick gang's asses to save her. Really, wasn't too hard to turn Double Dragon into an 80s-style low budget action movie, was it? That would have been dumb but fun. But instead they made it a lame sci-fi/fantasy flick that is just dumb, but not fun.
  • How many video games have spawned great movie adaptations? Tomb Raider, Resident Evil... the problems with these movies are too numerous to mention here, but too often, it seemd like they aimed directly at the 13-17 year old demographic, creating products designed to peddle merchandise, which were often left failing to even attain the level of "enjoyable popcorn movie." I'm not arguing that every movie needs to be at the level of Lawrence of Arabia, Paths of Glory, the Red-White-Blue cycle, or even the orig
    • What movies were these? Even Google turned up nothing.
    • You realy think the AvP movie was better than the TombRaider movie?

      Seriously... wow

      I mean Tomb Raider was hardly a work of art but just... wow

      Im tempted to watch the Doom movie just to see of anything can be worse than the AvP movie. I mean it can't be, surely.
  • Purely just because of Blomkamp, and as a proud South African.
  • finance (Score:2, Interesting)

    by nerdwithagun (933639)
    Why does Microsoft need financial backing from Fox/Universal? Sure they're going to need them for advertising and all the other filmy things they do, but MS must have $150M laying around in petty cash of their own somewhere. Why use Fox/Universal's and let them take the returns on it, or does it come in some sort of package deal from them that isn't negotiable?
  • This is not necessarily a bad thing.

    Movies haven't been a young medium for decades. They can't change largely because the people associated with them aren't adaptable. ...especially the select few who make the decisions.

    Let games and other interactive media take their place.

    ...and let Hollywood continue to live in the past if that's what they want.
