Halo movie director no longer interested in adaptation - Report

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpotPosted Jul 24, 2009 2:18 pm PT

District 9 and live-action short director Neil Blomkamp said he "probably wouldn't do Halo if it was offered" due to lingering bitterness over project's unraveling.

This week's announcement that Spider-Man director Sam Raimi will direct the long-in-gestation Warcraft movie was greeted by near-universal praise. The reaction was quite different, though, in August 2006 when Microsoft announced that a virtual unknown had signed on to direct the big-screen version of Halo.

Though South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp had the full backing of Halo executive producer Peter Jackson (the Lord of the Rings films), skepticism was rampant elsewhere. The sci-fi shooter series' rabid fans worried that his advertising background might make him susceptible to Hollywood producers' demands. Conversely, the two studios bankrolling the Halo movie with Microsoft, Fox and Universal, were reportedly so concerned by Blomkamp's inexperience and the project's budget that they suspended production indefinitely.

District 9is aiming for a different audience than Halo.

For its part, Microsoft had enough faith in Blomkamp to commission him to direct a series of live-action shorts in the lead-up to Halo 3's launch (viewable below). The gritty segments' reception was largely positive, raising hopes that after the release of his forthcoming film District 9, executive-produced by Jackson, he might return to the mothballed Halo movie.

Now, any such hopes have been all but dashed--by Blomkamp himself. Speaking with cinema blog Slashfilm at Comic-Con 2009 in San Diego, the currently Vancouver-based filmmaker expressed both a love of the Halo universe and an intense bitterness over the multimillion-dollar unraveling.

"I probably wouldn't do [the] Halo [movie] if it was offered to me," he told Slashfilm. "But creatively, I would like to do it. It's kind of like I'd be sad to not work on it, but I would still say no. I worked on it for five months…I put a lot of sort of sweat and blood into Halo. Creatively, it's very compelling. I love it. But, when you work that long on something and you have it bottom out and collapse…I mean, I got District 9 out of it, I think I'm probably better off because it's more of a personal film. But yeah, I love the world of Halo. [But] I don't think I would go back there."

Based on Blomkamp's short "Alive in Joburg," District 9 tells the tale of a group of alien refugees who land outside Johannesburg. Stranded on Earth, they are ghettoized and persecuted by humanity, leading to a deadly showdown. Blomkamp's other works include several short films: the minithriller "Yellow," the Robocop-esque "Tetra Vaal," and the Futurama-meets-The Office-like satire "Tempbot."

113 Comments

  • starduke

    Posted Jul 29, 2009 5:50 am PT

    Dang, those Halo 3 shorts are good. It's really too bad that this Blomkamp dude probably won't be making the movie. He did do a good job on the shorts.

  • beekayjay posted Jul 27, 2009 8:51 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    beekayjay

    Posted Jul 27, 2009 8:51 pm PT (hide)

    Halo is garbage anyways. I`d rather see a Pac Man movie than something regarding this over-rated tripe.

  • bad_fur_day

    Posted Jul 26, 2009 11:26 pm PT

    Why doncha have a cry about it.

  • AshTray1986

    Posted Jul 26, 2009 4:48 pm PT

    Raykuza,

    Uwe Bolls name wasnt tarnished because of his choice in video games movies. His name was tarnished because he is a pitiful director. His movies failed by default...

  • ajebus

    Posted Jul 26, 2009 10:24 am PT

    i would love to see a halo movie but if its animated then it would be kool

  • thisisjosh

    Posted Jul 26, 2009 9:45 am PT

    i'm fine with him trying to be all smooth & not interested, when obviously and realistically Neil would take it back in a heartbeat if it was offered to him again.

  • venasque

    Posted Jul 26, 2009 9:43 am PT

    I am really looking forward to District 9. I hope it does very well and all the Hollywood doubters come to regret their decision. Hollywood really needs to step outside the box more often, it is as though everyone who lives there lives in a world separated from the rest of us

  • Agreb91

    Posted Jul 26, 2009 7:55 am PT

    I always felt that making a Halo movie this soon would never work out. I was right.

  • omnislash6669

    Posted Jul 26, 2009 7:36 am PT

    yeah i think this be one of those movies that ruin a good game's name. not a good idea. but here's hoping! and yes the prince of persia movie is being made and it's actually either quite close to post production or is in post production now. I have already seen two of the movie posters. One is Jake Gyllenhal as the prince, which he actually looks alot like him. Then there is Sir Ben Kingsley as mr baddie. fingers crossed for that one! Off. name: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

  • games100

    Posted Jul 26, 2009 6:28 am PT

    good, halo is a game!

  • pimpo909

    Posted Jul 25, 2009 10:32 pm PT

    I wouldn't doubt that a Halo movie would make a fair amount at the box office. I also wouldn't doubt that it'd be one of the worst movies I'd ever see. And, that YouTube video almost made me sick. I feel it. Seriously.

  • SF_KiLLaMaN

    Posted Jul 25, 2009 9:38 pm PT

    I hope they decide not to do Halo movie, it just looks and sounds stupid...

  • E-i-N-e

    Posted Jul 25, 2009 7:41 pm PT

    That video is pretty damn awesome, they just need to fix up the brutes and add a little more surroundings and they're good!

  • R8der8180

    Posted Jul 25, 2009 7:14 pm PT

    @imaps3fanboy Prince of Persia IS being made into a movie.

  • Barighm

    Posted Jul 25, 2009 7:13 pm PT

    Didn't the Prince of Persia movie already start filming? They had links to pics from the set on this website not too long ago. As for Blomkamp...well, if District 9 turns out to be a sci-fi masterpiece, then we will all feel bad. If D9 flops, then we will breath a sigh of relief. Either way, I'm not worried. MS definitely wants a Halo movie. Maybe they were waiting for Blom to finish work on D9, and now that they know he won't do it, they will either try to convince him, bribe him, or just move on. It's not like sci-fi wasn't getting by before Neil came along.

  • mayceV

    Posted Jul 25, 2009 4:13 pm PT

    @imaps3fanboy
    tjey tried makingg sands of time into a movie but it din't work out just like halo

  • mayceV

    Posted Jul 25, 2009 3:07 pm PT

    awesome in game graphics !!!! lol

  • imaps3fanboy

    Posted Jul 25, 2009 3:07 pm PT

    For some reason I think prince of persia would be a good movie idea.

  • mayceV

    Posted Jul 25, 2009 2:59 pm PT

    NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I'll sit in the directors chair I'd direct it....

  • darkxxchris

    Posted Jul 25, 2009 2:50 pm PT

    when i first saw district 9 it remind it me of halo and now i know why it reminded me

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