Spielberg producing Halo movie?

Source: Film enthusiast site IESB.What we heard: In June 2006, unconfirmed reports claimed that famed filmmaker Steven Spielberg was in talks to direct a World of Warcraft movie--a gig Spider-Man director Sam Raimi would land three years later. In October 2006, another top-selling game, Halo, would...

Source: Film enthusiast site IESB.

What we heard: In June 2006, unconfirmed reports claimed that famed filmmaker Steven Spielberg was in talks to direct a World of Warcraft movie--a gig Spider-Man director Sam Raimi would land three years later. In October 2006, another top-selling game, Halo, would see its planned film adaptation put on indefinite hold and its would-be executive producer, Lord of the Rings helmer Peter Jackson, move on to new projects.

One of Jackson's projects is producing the computer-animated version of the classic graphic novel The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn--which Spielberg is directing after he wraps the just-announced remake of Harvey. Now, in an incestuous twist all too common in Hollywood, comes another unconfirmed report saying that Spielberg may take over as executive producer of the Halo film, which remains in development limbo.

According to an article posted late Friday on IESB, Spielberg's production company, DreamWorks, is in "active negotiations" with Microsoft to acquire the Halo film rights. Previously, 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures were partnering to distribute the film, which was reportedly doomed by studio rivalry and concerns over its $160-$180 million production cost.

According to IESB's multiple sources, DreamWorks wants the Halo property to be the first in a series of summer blockbusters it would release through its newly minted distribution deal with Walt Disney Pictures. (In a further touch of irony, DreamWorks had been negotiating with Universal just days before the Disney deal was struck in February.) Apparently Spielberg was sold on the project after being "blown away" by the latest rewrite of the Halo script by G.I. Joe screenwriter Stuart Beattie. (The original Halo screenplay was written by Alex Garland, who penned the script for the cult zombie-apocalypse film 28 Days Later and the dark travel novel The Beach.) Beattie's script is itself based on Eric Nylund's 2001 novel Halo: The Fall of Reach, which is believed to be the basis of what looks like Bungie Studios' final Halo game, 2010's Halo: Reach.

The official story: "We're glad there's still a lot of enthusiasm in the entertainment industry surrounding the idea of a Halo movie. That said, the Halo feature film remains on hold as we focus on projects like Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach. We have nothing further to share with respect to plans regarding a Halo movie." -- Microsoft rep.

Bogus or not bogus?: Though there's only IESB's word to go on, Spielberg-produced Halo looks plenty plausible. Besides being an avid gamer, Spielberg has strong ties to the gaming industry in general, having helped craft the original Medal of Honor and, more recently, having codesigned the Boom Blox games with Electronic Arts. Spielberg is also chummy with Microsoft and was on hand at June's Electronic Entertainment Expo to talk up the possibilities of the forthcoming Xbox 360 motion-sensing camera, Project Natal. Whether that relationship translates into an executive producer role for the filmmaker remains to be seen.

348 Comments

  • Juggernaut09

    Posted Sep 28, 2009 8:22 pm PT

    i am totally surprised about reach. i mean the book of The Fall Of Reach was freakin badass and now since they are making the game, im excited. plus this game would probably be a world hit!

  • midnight-walker

    Posted Sep 26, 2009 2:29 pm PT

    The live action ODST and halo 3 trailers are all very impressive. If the movie were to be made then there would have to be more than one to fit the whole story in. It depends what aspect of halo they include. The start of the war, or master cheifs fight. I'm just gutted they chose to make anime over a fulled fledge awe inspiring movie.

  • mbrauns1

    Posted Sep 19, 2009 12:53 pm PT

    Halo couldnt be anything under Pg-13 and i'd rather see it be R just because the master chief is that badass and halo traditionally has been an M rated game.

    On a side note, GiJoe was terrible 1 because channing tatum is a D-bag and 2 because the writing was horrible, i really hope this guy doesnt eff up the script and make MC look as cheesy as Tatum did. I'd almost rather see Diablo Cody write this one, at least i liked one of her movies

  • IAmTheFLu

    Posted Sep 9, 2009 8:21 pm PT

    dreamworks have made alot of good movies.

    this doesnt have to be rated r to be any good. live free die hard was almost as good as the origional, surpassing the first 2 sequels.

    GI Joe was bad for 1 reason, the original cartoon was bad. but, the guy captured the original essence of coolness in the movie, thats all it needed.

  • FreeBird55

    Posted Sep 5, 2009 4:58 pm PT

    the "we are ODST" video is exactly how this movie should look like. i much perfer this over a cgi film http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/852871/bungie-project-2/videos/haloodst_liveaction_trl_090409.html

  • kazstar23

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 1:40 am PT

    @TT_audi_34

    they were bankrupt. but the really wanted to make a movie so they made distric 9. but i dont know the might go back to the halo movie very soon till they get a heck of a lot load of money

  • TT_audi_34

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 1:30 am PT

    Does anyone know why Peter Jackson dropped Halo? I was really looking forward to it but somehow they just dropped it.

  • FreeBird55

    Posted Aug 30, 2009 5:58 pm PT

    @hardassmofo lol for the name i would be ok with a totaly cgi movie but it better not look like anime at all and also it better look nothing like how halo legends is turning out

  • mrchiledonut

    Posted Aug 29, 2009 11:06 pm PT

    That's neat and it's somewhat of a surprise. Although I personally feel as if he were to do a Half Life film (moreso HL2) he'd do better because it seems like his kind of work.

  • hardassmofo

    Posted Aug 29, 2009 11:29 am PT

    sure a live action movie would be nice but to see halo in full effect i thing a feature length CGI film would definitely be the way to go, and i reckon with Spielberg on board it would be 10x more awesome! just a thought....

  • ChidoriBoyU

    Posted Aug 27, 2009 3:22 am PT

    @apolloooo

    you're right
    and instead of making a halo anime they should make an Atlus-made persona anime (i know that has nth to do with the topic but whatever)

  • ChidoriBoyU

    Posted Aug 27, 2009 3:19 am PT

    microsoft milking halo again

  • Funnybone525

    Posted Aug 26, 2009 4:48 pm PT

    And for special effects, they need to get the guy who did the trilogy of Halo 3 commercials. The Live action one. I'd love to see those effects in a movie.

  • Funnybone525

    Posted Aug 26, 2009 4:47 pm PT

    Wait, the script's by the G.I. Joe screenwriter?
    Spielberg or not, that worries me, seeing as G.I. Joe sucked.

  • FreeBird55

    Posted Aug 26, 2009 3:36 pm PT

    must be rated R or else this becomes an epic fail also if this is animated i might punch the creator of halo;legends. well the covenent would have to be cgi but if this becomes a child friendly animated story like toy storries or something i wouldn't even watch it even though im a huge halo fan

  • Maul_88

    Posted Aug 24, 2009 4:09 am PT

    god damn it, i never thought it would be possible, Halo Reach based on my fav book, Fall Of Reach, now the movie probably by The God of Film Making, Gosh, personally however long it takes i'm exited. Halo has a massively great story line for a movie, as the previous comment said its not only about shooting stuff up, the story of the spartans, their training, Harvest, Dr Halsey... f*ck check out the first 8 mins of the movie on You Tube and tell me yourselves. We are in for some action packed upcoming two splendid years for all Halo Fans

  • senorbusyman

    Posted Aug 17, 2009 2:25 pm PT

    Leg3nd4ry i agree with you cuz to kids they think a game like Halo is just running around, shooting people, and talking smack...kids are dumb@sses, but when it comes to a story line from a game/book Halo definetely defines the word "Entertainment", lets not forget the books sold for 20mil, the games sold for idk?? probably 100mil!! but the point is wether they make the movie out of "Combat Envolved" or "Fall of Reach" they need to make the movie the way WE want it, US the fans, not the way Hollywood wants it, it has to entertain the critics like district 9 did!! Audiences i dont give a damn about them, im a critic, i get paid to do this, anyways if they choose people for this film like Spielberg, he at least needs to team up with his buddy Lucas so they can make it like Star Wars!! But i prefer James Cameron cuz his classic Terminator, and his upcoming Avatar Project are a hit and if he needs a producer get Jackson back for the Halo Movie!!!

  • TDBxViRuS

    Posted Aug 17, 2009 8:54 am PT

    I sooo badly want to see this game i think the fallof reach is the best part of the story for me especially if speilberg did it!! that...would....be...ASOME!
    oh and if they did make a bioshock movie that would be brill

  • apolloooo

    Posted Aug 15, 2009 5:05 am PT

    why just not make kingdom hearts movie like advent children ,why made movies from this sux game

  • apolloooo

    Posted Aug 15, 2009 5:03 am PT

    why just not make kingdom hearts movie like advent children ,why made movies from this sux game

  • Weddum

    Posted Aug 15, 2009 4:02 am PT

    Surely a director like Spielberg would realise how extremely poor and boring the plot of Halo is? But then he doesn't seem intent on making movies with plot lately, rather its spending millions on the effects. Which is about all Halo would be good for in a movie.

  • MrHatnClogs

    Posted Aug 14, 2009 7:59 am PT

    I think Halo is right up Speilburg's ally because the Halo series has been about the humans being persecuted by the Covenant and thats what some of his movies have been about whether it's Humans persecuting robots (A.I.), Aliens persecuting humans (War of the Worlds) or humans persecuting humans (Schindler's List). I would however would like to see James Cameron direct this I mean, his movie Aliens greatly influenced Halo and the videogame industry!

  • Dgalmun

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 8:01 pm PT

    It's cool but it's gonna suck hard.

  • FreeBird55

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 4:00 pm PT

    must be rated R or else this becomes an epic fail also if this is animated i might punch the creator of halo;legends. well the covenent would have to be cgi but if this becomes a child friendly animated story like toy storries or something i wouldn't even watch it even though im a huge halo fan

  • dmdavenport posted Aug 13, 2009 1:39 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    dmdavenport

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 1:39 pm PT (hide)

    If Spielberg has anything to do with a Halo movie he will stick a happy ending on it. Maybe he'll have the Master Chief adopt an grunt.

  • mr3bdulla

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 11:12 am PT

    mgs or assassins creed movie will be better

  • Da_Mini

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 4:17 am PT

    I dont this will be all that hard to do although you need a big name like spielberg to get it done the live action video the went on youtube and xbox live was pretty well made you take a guy like spielberg and he should nail it on the head

  • dah_master

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 2:57 am PT

    An infamous movie would have been better but then i never played halo so...

  • dinuattila

    Posted Aug 13, 2009 1:12 am PT

    Xbox 360 exclusive movie? This may be the 1st out of many.

  • NPX190

    Posted Aug 12, 2009 10:45 pm PT

    Yeah, but aren't we forgetting? You WOULDN'T want to see the Walt Disney name over Halo, now would you? A Walt Disney's Halo better maintain the R rating. Hahaha. Seriously though, at this point, a live action movie is desired, so long as its just, and can prove that movies based off videogames can work, at least the first week it goes to the big screen you know would make a lot of dough, but come on, its a Halo movie!

  • saxatron58

    Posted Aug 12, 2009 8:39 pm PT

    @matt teh gamuh: Peter Jackson is producing District 9, not Spielberg. Jackson doesn't have anything to do with it anymore, as the article says.

  • finchused

    Posted Aug 12, 2009 7:35 pm PT

    Spielberg > Peter Jackson

    Spielberg movies, when I look back, have been among my favorites since I was a kid. If anybody could turn this "so so" story into a good movie, I think it is him.

  • matt_teh_gamuh

    Posted Aug 12, 2009 6:26 pm PT

    arent they making district 9 instead

  • Mr_Saturn26

    Posted Aug 12, 2009 5:52 pm PT

    @SolidStein, no it will be the game movie turd of our generation. kinda like DOOM. yah, that will do it. Oh yah, DOOM had a great plot people actually cared about *scarcasm. As if most people play 1st person shooters for stories.

  • sackfan

    Posted Aug 12, 2009 5:26 pm PT

    awsome

  • izmickey

    Posted Aug 12, 2009 3:08 pm PT

    The games story wasnt so great and they made 3 games for halo. I doubt they can make a good story in a two hour movie. I think a fallout kind of flick would be cooler or gears of war....come to think of it, a gears of war movie would be sweeter. That way it'll scare your chick and jump into your arms....victory.

  • 24k_Solid_Gold

    Posted Aug 12, 2009 11:12 am PT

    I still want Peter Jackson to produce or direct it. It'll be a much better film if he does.

  • LosDaddie

    Posted Aug 12, 2009 6:15 am PT

    Oh yes....please let this be true!!

    I'd camp out to see a Halo movie

  • AuronTsubaki85

    Posted Aug 12, 2009 2:55 am PT

    I haven't played the game. But I been of a fan of Steven Spielberg's earlier films. With someone like him on board to produce there might be some life into the Halo movie being adapted. Just don't let Fox break our backsides like they did with Max Payne & Street Fighter

  • blakeney

    Posted Aug 12, 2009 12:53 am PT

    Wasnt i reading here only a few days ago that it was confirmed the movie had been canned? either way.....another meaningless action movie with tacky game tie-in and im sure no doubt he wins the girl or saves the world by the end.....movie i guess? oh well atleast my description will prolly save u the money spent at cinema or time spent downloading when it eventually gets released if it does....;p

  • penpusher

    Posted Aug 12, 2009 12:23 am PT

    for heaven sakes will someone just get on with it and make the damned movie already?

  • fd_6_6_6_buzz

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 11:14 pm PT

    well, good news

  • Spartan_418

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 8:20 pm PT

    Even better than a movie based on Fall of Reach would be one based on Halo: Combat Evolved, if it included the extra material from Halo: the Flood. The stuff you don't see in the game, as in the much larger-scale conflict between the rest of the Pillar of Autumn crew and the main Covenant force, that would make for one hell of a movie. Either way if they keep it true to the games it will be ossim.

  • cloudy14

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 6:04 pm PT

    peter Jackson is my favourite of all directors and i love the way he does the large scale battle scenes with all the effects i think that anyone who is going to make the halo film has to know exactly what it is like to play halo and a decent grasp of the characters etc... But i think they shouldnt base it around one or two spartans as the heros but make it a lot more diverse and centre it around the marines but i all for a HALO movie.

  • sataricon

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 5:01 pm PT

    I hope they keep him away from this.
    Spielberg hasn''t done real good movies as of late.

  • darkcomedian

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 4:20 pm PT

    Unfortunately, studios make movies strictly for money these days, and while I would be sorely disappointed and wouldnt even bother to watch it, I wouldnt be surprised if they acted like all studios do. Censor their vision and disappoint fans in order to get more kids in the theatre (kids who shouldnt even be watching it anyway). Its really sad but thats the world we live in. A bunch of greedy pigs, who will stoop down to any level to get an extra buck. I havent notcie anyone say it yet but Steven Spielberg also did munich, which was truly a great movie (it was also R) so I have high hopes if he directs it, not so much hope if he's only executive producing.

  • X-RS

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 4:15 pm PT

    theyll wait n see how halo anime goes. dont doubt it.

  • sukrpunch

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 4:00 pm PT

    The fall of reach was THE best book I read out of all the Halo books. It's also probably one of the best books I've ever read (barring the classics). If Spielberg has anything to do with this film and it's as close as possible to the book I'll probably die... because the amount of awesome on the screen.....

  • joeborg14

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 3:50 pm PT

    I would much rather have had Peter Jackson and Alex Garland do this movie. 28 Days Later is one of the best zombie movies I've ever seen, and LOTR is my favorite trilogy of all time, not to mention the reputation PJ has accumulated for himself over the past couple of years.

    I don't have a problem with Spielberg, but Beattie?? I don't think I'll say anymore.

  • Dr_Manfattan

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 3:38 pm PT

    @ ASG_ : i would say that your just one of the idiots that's only played the halo games and that doesn't know about all the books and comics before it, but you cant of even played a full game if your unable to see the plot.

    i just want the movie to follow one of the halo stories without too much hollywood bulls**t. as soon as a director gets to make a movie based on a game he seems to think that means "take some very basic elements from the game and just make the rest up how you want" its very rare that this system works..maybe speilberg's the one to finally do it right.
    its the same with book-to-movies, the end of the LOTR trilogy of movies was terrible compared to the book, not to mention how much detail was left out from the rest of the books.

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