MS "still eager" to make a Halo film

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 6 September, 2010

But will a Halo TV series come first?

Microsoft still wants to make a movie based on the Halo franchise, but is said to be "intently watching" the TV landscape as a potential outlet for a TV series.

"We're still interested in making an excellent Halo movie," Frank O'Connor, Halo head honcho at Microsoft, told Variety.

"We've created an awful lot of documentation and materials to support a feature film. We have a good idea of what kind of story we want to tell, but won't move on it until there's a great reason to do it. We're in no particular hurry."

Microsoft has suffered a number of high-profile problems as it has attempted to turn Master Chief into a Hollywood star.

A planned summer 2007 film, to be produced by Peter "Lord of the Rings" Jackson and Neill "District 9" Blomkamp was scrapped after Universal and Fox turned their noses up at the whopping $135 million budget.

According to Variety, film studios were "also irked by the perceived arrogance of Microsoft at the time".

Despite the setbacks, "Microsoft retains the film rights to any future Halo movies, and is still eager to produce a film when a budget and plotline can be worked out," says Variety.

It's still developing scripts by Garland, Stuart Beattie, D.B. Weiss and Josh Olson as potential blueprints.

Any film would likely serve as a standalone story and not be "a verbatim retelling of the game," O'Connor said. Microsoft is also "intently watching" the TV landscape as a potential outlet for a "Halo" series. Who's the bloke who plays Edward in Twilight? He's be a good Master Chief.

Halo: Reach, Bungie's last Halo game, will be released on 14th September. That's next Tuesday, soldiers.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (35) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Climhazzard #1 2 years ago

    After watching all the live action shorts they have made and the super cool deliver hope reach trailer i can't see why not. I would go to see it for sure.

  • NewbieZilla #2 2 years ago

    Halol.

  • MiniAmin #3 2 years ago

    Film yes, series no.

  • ps3owner #4 2 years ago

    I bought the first Xbox just for halo... I might just (after seeing a commercial on TV) buy the new xbox for Reach.

    brings back good memories

  • altitude2k #5 2 years ago

    Bypass Hollywood and all their bullshit, MS, and make it yourself.

  • IonOnion #6 2 years ago

    "Bypass Hollywood and all their bullshit, MS, and make it yourself."

    Im OK with this. No doubt they have the money to produce it themselves. And its not like there is much risk making a bad movie give the game series a bad rep. Just look at SF: Legend of Chun-li, the Street Fighter franchise is stronger than ever despite it.

  • LetsGo #7 2 years ago

    Semi skimmed or full fat milk?

  • FooAtari #8 2 years ago

    This would go straight to the Syfy channel here, or maybe Bravo.

  • lordofthedunce #9 2 years ago

    Such a shame Jackson and Blomkamp couldn't get the deal.

    At least we got District 9.

  • Lukus #10 2 years ago

    Surely 125 million is petty cash to Microsoft. They should just bankroll it themselves. Not make it themselves, that would be silly, but provide some of the budget. They'd at the very least get most of it back one way or another.
    Edited by Lukus at 06/09/10 @ 14:44

  • hoster #11 2 years ago

    Hire the Battlestar Galactica writing team.

  • Goodfella #12 2 years ago

    I'm not a Halo fan but I'd go and see a Halo movie. I love space sci-fi, as no doubt do millions of others. They should make this film.

  • lordofthedunce #13 2 years ago

    Hire the Battlestar Galactica writing team.

    I agree up to a point, some of BSG's episodes were serious filler imo.

    They nailed the political side of things though.
    Edited by lordofthedunce at 06/09/10 @ 14:57

  • The-Bodybuilder #14 2 years ago

    I would prefer a Mass Effect Movie, but a Halo movie would be awesome.

  • sfp_noodle #15 2 years ago

    I dunno, I'm kinda on the fence :/

    Whenever movie adaptations of Metal Gear Solid or Halo get mentioned I can't help but feel that we don't need them. MGS games are movies in their own right, just that it's all CG. The Halo games also tell a story pretty well so I wouldn't want those franchises tainted by a crappy movie tie in.

    Sure Street Fighter and Tomb Raider movies didn't hurt the rep of the games, but it just shows that the makers are normally more concerned with making money than stating true to the source material.

    Silent Hill is the only movie to have come close and genuinely paid homage to the vide game series.

  • MaFlippinHeadHurts #16 2 years ago

    I think they should forget a TV series for the time being and just focus on making an epic movie

    ......Jackson and Blomkamp - what a shame, they'd have truly done the franchise justice

  • Phantom_Dynamite #17 2 years ago

    They have done a good job on the live action shorts for years, the problem is extending something like that to feature length and having a brilliant script to go with it as Halo has a rich and deep lore and deserves no less.

  • CptFantastic #18 2 years ago

    Whatever they do...don't show the Master Chief's face!!! *remembers Judge Dredd: the Movie*

  • AphoticCosmos #19 2 years ago

    A series could work if it picked the right context. Serialising the pre-Mombasa adventures of the ODST squad from last year might work, for example. With the exception of SGU there isn't really any decent sci-fi on TV at the moment, so now might be the time.

    And it would basically be Firefly + Tricia Helfer. /coma of awesome

    Or how about life aboard a UNSC carrier or cruiser?

    There's a lot of backstory in the Halo universe that could be reasonably fleshed out through a film or TV series, it'd be interesting to have either.
    Edited by AphoticCosmos at 06/09/10 @ 17:58

  • chrisjm #20 2 years ago

    a robot chicken Halo special would be pretty cool.

  • SAMagic #21 2 years ago

    @CptFantastic : Too late, Sylvester Stallone is already set to play Master Chief. He will immediately take off the helmet after 5 minutes and be joined by sarcastic sidekick Rob Schneider.

    There will also be a scene where he comes round a corner, catches several Covenant off-guard and says "Halo guys!" before blowing them away with a shotgun.

    The film will also end with a variation of the Rambo III speech, replacing the word 'America' with 'UNSC.

  • matrim83 #22 2 years ago

    Forget the movie. Make a Band of brothers/Generation Kill type TV series with ODSTs as the main cast.

  • IneptPercy #23 2 years ago

    Since my other half hits me every time I mention Halo I would take great pleasure in taking her to the cinema for a surprise...

  • aphexstwin #24 2 years ago

    yes, a movie would be cool, especially as the live action/cg mix of ads for reach and wars were. but the only thing stopping this movie getting made is microsoft. theyre in the software business, leave the film making business to those who do it best.

    as for revealing the mc, that will remain the biggest stumbling block on getting any well known actor into his suit: you have to see their faces, its pretty much a written rule in movies, very rarely do we not see the face of the actor in the leading role, hence why judge dredd removed his helmet.

  • Drebbin #25 2 years ago

    @matrim83
    Agreed! That would be superb……actually if you check on Xbox live, there is a short prequel to Halo 3 I think it’s called “Landfall”, it’s kind of close to that gritty/unsteady B.O.B. visual you probably crave, and is really close to how I’d hope the film would have looked before PJ dropped it.

  • waynenot #26 2 years ago

    "Who's the bloke who plays Edward in Twilight? He's be a good Master Chief."

    When trying to type out a 'funny' because it's the 'house style':

    1) Ask yourself if it's actually funny.
    2) Ask yourself a second and third time.
    3) Type it out correctly.

  • hoster #27 2 years ago

    "ery rarely do we not see the face of the actor in the leading role, hence why judge dredd removed his helmet."

    V for Vendetta managed it though.

  • coolbritannia #28 2 years ago

    Why is everyone hung up on who plays chief? An unknown will play him a la stig, and hopefully Steve Downes will voice him.

  • Jenuall #29 2 years ago

    "It's still developing scripts by Garland, Stuart Beattie, D.B. Weiss and Josh Olson as potential blueprints."

    'Garland'? Who is Garland? Give the man some some respect and actually write his full name.

    #gamesjournalismdespair

  • Caimbeul #30 2 years ago

    I think that a TV series would fare better than a movie.

  • JBlokeUK #31 2 years ago

    And it'll be awesome, just like the Mario and Street Fighter movies.

    Sorry but Halo imo is the most overrated game I've ever played, so no surprise when I laughed at hearing of a Halo film.

    Awaits negs...

  • Ashcroft #32 2 years ago

    I bet the start of the film would be great, followed by 2 hours of boring shit involving the flood and corridors then it ends mid-sentence right at the point where the budget runs out.

    But they'll finish the next one. They promise.

  • flippet #33 2 years ago

    Anybody remember Space: Above and Beyond? A series in that style would be welcome here

  • altitude2k #34 2 years ago

    @Jenuall

    I think he's talking about Judy.

  • BobsUncle #35 2 years ago

    film studios were "also irked by the perceived arrogance of Microsoft at the time"

    I read this as:

    film studios were "also afraid of working with a client with more money than them who they couldn't walk all over if needed"