Halo movie indefinitely postponed

Following collapse of studio backing and a proposed third rewrite, work on big-screen adaptation of sci-fi shooter phenomenon is stopped.

At the end of September, the Halo movie seemed to be right on track. Its executive producer, Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, had been a featured speaker at Microsoft's X06 event in Barcelona, Spain. There, he talked up the multimillion-dollar sci-fi epic, which was being directed by novice Neill Blomkamp from a script by Alex Garland (28 Days Later) and D.B. Weiss.

What a difference a month makes. Earlier this month, Universal and Fox--the two Hollywood studios cofinancing the project along with Microsoft--backed out of the project after failing to renegotiate the profit-sharing scheme for the film. It had been slated for a summer 2008 release.

Despite the setback, Microsoft put on a brave face. "Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and the rest of the creative team are dedicated to ensuring the Halo movie becomes a reality," the company said in a statement on October 20. "We are already in discussions with potential partners who recognize the value of the Halo brand and its appeal to consumers worldwide."

Apparently the aforementioned discussions didn't go so well. This week, WingNut Films, Jackson's production company, announced that the release of Halo has been pushed back indefinitely. "At this time Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, along with Microsoft, have mutually agreed to postpone making a feature film based on the Halo video game universe until we can fulfill the promise we made to millions of Halo fans...of bringing a first class film to the big screen," read a statement sent out to numerous media outlets by WingNut.

Jackson and Walsh confirmed that Blomkamp would remain on board, praising him as a "tremendously gifted filmmaker" and calling his work on the project "truly awe-inspiring." However, the WingNut statement gave no date for the Master Chief's big-screen debut. "While it will undoubtedly take a little longer for Halo to reach the big screen, we are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait," read the statement.

While Blomkamp is sticking with Halo, neither Garland nor Weiss are currently involved with the project. According to the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, the film's script was being rewritten for a third time by Josh Olson, who received a 2006 Academy Award nomination for penning A History of Violence.

642 Comments

  • crazyleftykid

    Posted Jun 17, 2008 1:26 pm PT

    lol. very old news indeed. i think that microsoft made a good choice with having peter jackson help make the movie. peter jackson did an unbelievable job with the lord of the rings series and king kong and i think that he will do a good job with halo too.

  • EternalMax

    Posted Nov 28, 2007 5:43 am PT

    i love history of violence, the action was really cool....but i don't think that josh olson is right for the job....

  • cteclaw

    Posted Oct 9, 2007 7:40 pm PT

    No I hasnt smeghead83

  • roof_sniper

    Posted Oct 6, 2007 6:48 am PT

    smeghead83 its old news because it says its from october 31st of 2006. this is 2007............

  • smeghead83

    Posted Oct 6, 2007 12:22 am PT

    lol OLD NEWS, Fox are now funding the movie and its been green lighted

  • Temujin_basic

    Posted Aug 27, 2007 1:23 pm PT

    THANK GOD! Just don't do the movie, please! Don't ruin it, stick with making Halo games instead. And NO to MGS movie too, please please Hollywood enuff blasphemy.

  • funky_facon

    Posted Aug 7, 2007 8:01 pm PT

    they keep making movies out of games lets hope its not as bad as the games made from movies HEY i heard they're making rayman raving rabbids a movie

  • Gta4lif3

    Posted Jul 29, 2007 1:52 pm PT

    this movie is gonna get murder by the metal gear movie.

  • snaker49

    Posted Jul 23, 2007 9:25 am PT

    where did you hear about filming gamerboy27?

  • The_Dragon_Wolf

    Posted Jul 17, 2007 2:18 pm PT

    I really really liked the Halo trailer that was in full CGI .... the one in which the Chief used the bubble shield for the first time .. it had fantastic quality & direction ... i wish they make the whole movie with CGI of this quality .. just wonder how much it will cost !!!!!?

  • gamerboy27

    Posted Jul 16, 2007 1:52 am PT

    they r filming in new zealand

  • snaker49

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 12:25 pm PT

    Will be the best movie ever created on the face of mankind!!!!

  • kyle96789

    Posted Jun 14, 2007 6:35 pm PT

    HALO IS THE BEST

  • GameCrook

    Posted Jun 3, 2007 12:53 pm PT

    Why make a movie?

  • elite_ferns1

    Posted May 21, 2007 8:53 am PT

    if the movie does come out, i hope it is an epic and not just a senseless, gore filled action movie. Don't get me wrong, the gore in the game was great, but it was the story that really kept me going. And plus gore-y movies usually get forgotten overtime. But i want this movie to stay in the hearts of hardcore fans and movie goers.

  • themidgethotel

    Posted May 17, 2007 6:36 am PT

    i agree with MoDollars. it's kind of odd that they would allow an inexperienced director to direct a movie adaptation of Halo merit. The video game world needs a solid movie adaptation! Not that it really matters right now, though, b/c Halo: The Movie has been put off, but hopefully it won't become the Duke Nukem Forever of tinseltown.

  • GHEmpire

    Posted May 14, 2007 5:48 pm PT

    it would be awesome to see a movie would be weird though if john is tom cruise lol

  • MoDollars

    Posted May 14, 2007 4:51 am PT

    i hope steven speilberg can direct the movie, he's a excellent choice.

  • jacnewforce07

    Posted May 14, 2007 4:46 am PT

    I'm ready for the movie!

  • biggsk

    Posted May 6, 2007 5:29 pm PT

    they better make a halo movie...it would be about 2 times better than the game (as long as it is a long movie ^^) i hope they continue making it !!!

  • meaty24

    Posted Apr 28, 2007 11:52 am PT

    this movie better come out....if it does it better be awesome as the game is! hope it dosent let me down.

  • Zigmond1

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 2:18 pm PT

    what is uwe boll

  • AnimeNewtype

    Posted Apr 15, 2007 10:04 am PT

    Meh, I don't even care. We've already got enough futuristic movies about alien invasions and whatnot. The MGS movie will bring something new and fresh - a mercenary out on his own in the forests of Russia, not some armor-clad warrior gunning down hordes of aliens. LAME. Not to say I don't like the Halo games. They rock. But I'd rather see MGS on the big screen right now.

  • icarus212001

    Posted Apr 12, 2007 7:00 pm PT

    as long as its not uwe boll

  • gamer1

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 10:26 pm PT

    They can take as long as they want for all I care... so long as they don't making another terrible video game movie...

  • packernation31

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 5:28 pm PT

    that stinks, wasnt really hyped for it anyway

  • bumbro8521

    Posted Mar 23, 2007 5:07 pm PT

    grrr gow better not make it to the big screen first!

  • Dpho3nix

    Posted Mar 22, 2007 6:31 am PT

    You misunderstand ChiefHunter1, they will still make the film but it is POSTPONED. It think it'll be worth the wait.

  • ChiefHunter1

    Posted Mar 20, 2007 8:42 pm PT

    I wish they had made the Halo movie. It would have easily made $50 million off of Halo gamers not to mention otherss who would also go along.

  • Quaazaar

    Posted Mar 20, 2007 5:39 pm PT

    Burn

  • LoneAssassin

    Posted Mar 20, 2007 5:35 pm PT

    i'm confident peter jackson will do a good job...and the movie will deffinitely be worth the wait.

    p.s. I love reading hillbilly-ish replies like the one from lightbarier.

  • Jermdog911

    Posted Mar 20, 2007 5:14 pm PT

    Im glad alex garland is the writer he made 28 days later which was a really good movie.

  • Lightbarier

    Posted Mar 17, 2007 4:43 pm PT

    It cool we have to remember that there are alot of people out there that hate video games and wouldn't mind making a bad cheap movie with the title just to get people to come in and watch and come back unsatified whyle the makers roll around in money whyle we feel betrayed. Not to mention all the bad movies that have come from video games yet stunk in other people opinon such as tomb rader it better just to wait then to come out with a bad movie. We need to show to people that the games that we play are good strong with great story lines.

  • ramreaper86

    Posted Mar 3, 2007 8:25 am PT

    what are guys up to?ya keep us hangin' by a bare thread hopin' to see the mjonir armour in action and then tell us that a good movie got shelved cause they couldn't come up with a way ter split the dough!

  • drumingmaster

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 3:57 pm PT

    i respect the fact that they tried and i respect the fact that they are waiting to so they can make it the greatest movie ever. plus, this way more youth can play and get to know the master chief. and when it comes out they are going to make a lot of money.

  • packy17

    Posted Feb 25, 2007 10:51 am PT

    haloguy888, at least the metal gear solid movie isnt indefinately postponed. and even if they were both released at the same time, i bet mgs would be a lot better, because it has more room to manuver story-wise. halo has one of the worst stories ever. period.

  • haloguy888

    Posted Feb 19, 2007 4:02 pm PT

    When this movie is created, it would be way better than the Meta Gear Solid movie. XD

  • coolcon2000

    Posted Feb 17, 2007 12:22 pm PT

    who is, or what is Uwe Boll?

  • PacoL250

    Posted Feb 13, 2007 12:26 am PT

    Uwe Boll...please don't say that...

    Besides, in all honesty, Uwe Boll will probably never be given a video game to adapt to the movies. Ever....unless it's something as ridiculous as Postal 2 or Fuzion Frenzy. Even better, imagine something like a Barbie game-to-movie done by him...

    Cringe-inducing ain't it?

    As for this...well A History of Violence was okay in terms of the story. So if the script if being rewritten by its writer, then I'll take that as an okay. And the fact that Jackson is still sticking with this is a good sign as well. Personally, I'd like to see greater input from the people who penned Halo's story in the games (and even the novels).

    $20 says that the delay is being caused by some crazy "financial-legalese," where all the various copyrights need to accounted for and basically who gets what for money. And until that's sorted out, work on this will essentially not happen except for minor hirings and such.

    In relation to the MGS movie and with Kojima on possibly board as that movie's executive producer, Bungie and Microsoft should SERIOUSLY think about doing the something similar.

    All in all, the financial and legal issues will work themselves out. As for the script and such, more people from Bungie should be involved.

    Then again, who knows, Bungie may get more involved after Halo 3 is released...

  • hikari33

    Posted Feb 10, 2007 5:12 pm PT

    if they keep delaying it peter jackson is gonna leave and uwe boll will take over, which literally means that the halo name will be ruined forever

  • demongrunt

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 6:17 pm PT

    i want a vid

  • V-Nine

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 1:36 pm PT

    No different from any other delay any other Halo has suffered, is going to suffer, will suffer.

  • DarkSaber2k

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 9:49 am PT

    Hopefully a million Halo kids will now commit suicide

  • danleeah

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 3:14 am PT

    Whats the point of these vidoegame movies? Games are games. Movies are movies.

  • Everon22

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 12:31 am PT

    Scripts always go through a couple treatments and rewrites to fix complications. The problem with games-made movies is that they're not taken seriously and usually someone drops the ball.

  • J-X2731

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 11:53 pm PT

    ms...greedy bastards...mgs will kick ass

  • Driate

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 11:01 pm PT

    Script re-written a third time because the story is worthless garbage.

  • HXCDEW

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 5:22 pm PT

    hahahaha pwnt! MGS movie on the way and it will kick Halo's butt.

  • Warlock89

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 4:13 pm PT

    I POOP MY PANTS!!!

    Man that suckss! ERRR! I want a CGI Halo movie , like the TV spot commercial. That would be a 100% box office hit.

  • mansmanman

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 11:38 am PT

    dang...but if we have to wait for a really good movie... I guess we wait.

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