Halo film due in 2008

By Tom Bramwell Published 10 August, 2006

Director a relative unknown.

Halo will hit the silver screen in summer 2008, not 2007, Microsoft announced this week - and relative unknown Neill Blomkamp will direct.

South African Blomkamp has worked on a number of visual effects for television shows including Stargate SG-1, Dark Angel and Smallville, and has also worked on a number of advertising campaigns.

Microsoft describes him as "one of the most innovative and original artists currently working in short films and commercial advertising".

His work has netted him three Clio Awards for ad work, and a Visual Effects Society Award for a TV ad about a dancing Citroen.

More information can be found on his brief IMDB page, and GameSpot has tracked down a few of his shorts - there's Alive in Joburg, Yellow (both YouTube) and Tetra Vaal (direct link).

Along with Blomkamp, the Halo film has attracted Academy Award-winning film-maker Peter Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh as executive producers, with Jackson's Weta Digital and Weta Workshop handling effects and costumes. The film will be shot in New Zealand.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (38) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • skillian #1 6 years ago

    Says something sad about the film when it's appointed director got the job because of his work with CGI 30 second TV commercials.

  • Markusdragon #2 6 years ago

    Good choice of director. New blood means fresh style, and people won't moan as much about who he is because they'll be busy saying 'huh?' a lot whenever his name gets mentioned.

  • Tiiti #3 6 years ago

    His shorts are actually pretty good. He might (just might) pull it off :)

  • PearOfAnguish #4 6 years ago

    Says something sad about the film when it's appointed director got the job because of his work with CGI 30 second TV commercials.

    Watch his short films before you pass judgement: http://ww w.joystiq.com/2006/08/09/scruti...

  • skillian #5 6 years ago

    I can't watch them at work, but I'll check them out later, ta.

    I just think it would seem to make sense to put this guy in charge of special effects, and let someone with experience of making a coherent 2 hour story at the helm.

    But I do indeed reserve judgement - I remember Baz Lurhmann :)

  • Helios #6 6 years ago

    Not Uwe Boll?

    Shame :(

  • geepersd #7 6 years ago

    seems a bit Bruckheimer to me. New director form music vids / ads / shorts making big budget film under an experianced and probably controlling producer. but given the producer it seems like it good be all good

    edited to add - not dismissing this guy at all, just drawing a parallel to a proven working production tactic that I think would bode well with Peter Jackson overseeing production.

    also as long as this isn't a case of Alien3 where a new director wants to do something innovative, but is hampered by higher ups who partially picked him for newness and related assumed maleability - which I don't think is the case here.
    Edited by 1 at 10/08/06 @ 12:45

  • Steroyd #8 6 years ago

    heeey does this mean Halo 3 won't coincide with the Movie?

    Or are they going to get Halo 3 out of the door before the movie wrecks it's iamge.

    i've got money riding on it, that in the first 10 minutes Master Chief will take his helmet off and then... we see Silvester Stallone!!

    /still feels pain from Judge dredd Movie. :-(
    Edited by 2 at 10/08/06 @ 12:23

  • morriss #9 6 years ago

    He's also done a Nike advert. Check out 1UP.

  • Darkedge #10 6 years ago

    his shorts are brilliant.. utter genius

  • Ranger101 #11 6 years ago

    "Says something sad about the film when it's appointed director got the job because of his work with CGI 30 second TV commercials. "

    Search up the name "Ridley Scott" on wikipedia and you can see the potential advertising directors can reach.

    Just Don't look up American McG....

  • Dizzy #12 6 years ago

    I saw one of his shorts ate the Brussels SF movie festival.. pretty good. Nice choice for a director... certainly better than some uber-ego fake Hollywood "dude".

  • PearOfAnguish #13 6 years ago

    This guy should be making Transformers.

  • Talha #14 6 years ago

    Hey guys, don't be so hard on him. I just saw the Citreon ad (thanks, Pear) and my oh my - that's bloody brilliant. Chances are he will come up with something good.

    Besides, how can a Halo movie be anything less than the best movie ever? ;-)

  • geepersd #15 6 years ago

    as for no social commentry, the religion and intertwined politics amongst the covenent have many parallels in everyday life and could well make for a nice metaphor if handled well.

  • NthSimulachum #16 6 years ago

    Having watched the shorts...they've got a slightly different style to them...

    Halo might actually be good...innovative director, good scriptwriter, weta doing cg and props?

    But a GOOD videogame film?

    *ambivalence*

  • Kronos #17 6 years ago

    As long as he doesn't go overboard with the handheld camera shots I think he'll do well.

  • Metalfish #18 6 years ago

    My god, what if they add a "love interest" sub-plot?

    *shudders*

    Hopefully cortana being a dead computer will prevent any of that nonsense. Has anyone else read that "converstaions from the universe" thing from the Halo2 special edition? The last extract worries me vis a vis the above...

  • Gulag #19 6 years ago

    This guy seems to be a perfect fit for the Halo project. He can work on a tight budget, (MS are looking to make a relatively cheap film at $75Mil) he has an eye for convincing aliens and robots, likes his action, but knows that the world is more complicated than a gun-fight.

    As for his ability to tell a story, who knows, but it's often said that crafting a short story is harder than spewing out a long one. Conveying a setting, themes, action and characters in an elegant and understandable manner is hard to do in a short time. From what we've seen of this guy so far, he can do that.

    And remember, Ridley Scott was directing commercials and half hour tv shows before he did 'Alien'. And his only previous film to that was 'The Duelists', one of the finest swashbucklers ever made, and made on an absolute pittance at that.

  • neilka #20 6 years ago

    One of his Nike adverts features giant (robot) crabs - surely he should be directing the Genji film instead?

  • lambtron #21 6 years ago

    Big fan of his previous shorts.

    Still remember the pant-wetting the Robocop style one provoked amongst teh artists and animators at work first time we saw it a couple of years ago. heh.

    Maybe first ever good videogame adaptation?

  • Azazel #22 6 years ago

    Stargate SG-1, Dark Angel and Smallville, and has also worked on a number of advertising campaigns

    LAWL

    Heh, actually that's a bit unfair, i've not seen any of his stuff. And I do like SG-1 :)

  • faust_jnr #23 6 years ago

    @skillian

    "Says something sad about the film when it's appointed director got the job because of his work with CGI 30 second TV commercials."

    Wasn't Bungie's slogan for Halo - 30 seconds of fun, again and again?

  • BravoGolf #24 6 years ago

    Good point, Gulag

  • PearOfAnguish #25 6 years ago

    Wasn't Bungie's slogan for Halo - 30 seconds of fun, again and again?

    Are you sure it wasn't - Copy and paste this map, again and again ?

  • lambtron #26 6 years ago

    The library....

    Oh god the library :'(

  • Yossarian #27 6 years ago

    decent scriptwriter, promising director, probably the biggest and best blockbuster production team in the business currently, one of the best special effects house in the business, and Bungie's complete creative control ... it doesn't look shabby from here

  • faust_jnr #28 6 years ago

    @PearOfAnguish

    Or: Every map shall be played forwards and backwards.....

    ...again and again.
    Edited by 1 at 10/08/06 @ 13:38

  • eurisko2k #29 6 years ago

    some might remember also that david fincher directed aliens3 (though he hated the experience) on the back of music video's...

  • Rambaldi #30 6 years ago

    Like it or not (and mindles violence aside) there's some well-fleshed out themes in Halo that are very close to 'classic' sci-fi from 70's Asimov / Arthur C.Clarke / James Cooper etc.

    If this is done well, the story isn't messed with and done by people who 'get' games, this could be a real success.

    Bring it on!

  • kangarootoo #31 6 years ago

    "and let someone with experience of making a coherent 2 hour story at the helm"

    Isn't that partly/mostly the screenwriters job? The director is in charge of the delivery of story to screen. If the plot makes no sense and the dialogue blows, the director will be hard pushed to rescue it.

    Screenwriters just don't get enough credit IMO. They are the ones creating the plot twists, the challenging story lines and the believable characters (the last one is obvious a joint effort by lots of people). But we trumpet the directors like they wrote, produced and directed everything (which some do, but most don't).

  • AcidSnake #32 6 years ago

    David Fincher went on to make Fight Club though...

    And Alien3 had its moments...

  • skillian #33 6 years ago

    @skillian

    "Says something sad about the film when it's appointed director got the job because of his work with CGI 30 second TV commercials."

    Wasn't Bungie's slogan for Halo - 30 seconds of fun, again and again?

    That is a truly excellent answer to my concerns.

    +10 points to you Sir.

  • Tiger_Walts #34 6 years ago

    Looking at his work, he is able to establish a believable environment with a backstory and history efficiently. Something a film set in the Halo universe is going to need to do. The action scenes are thankfully 'clean' and not a mess of jump-cuts. He has also clearly mastered the art of CGI elements placed in live action, each shot being well thought out in their conception and execution.

    I wouldn't be surprised if Peter Jackson hand picked Blomkamp himself.

  • space_ace #35 6 years ago

    i like the halo video

  • Vin #36 6 years ago

    Alive in Joburg looked HOT.

    Faith restored, sirs.

  • MasterThief #37 6 years ago

    I'm glad this film won't be out till 2008. Why have it clash with 2007's Halo 3 Xbox 360 game, in terms of publicity, hype and marketing exposure. Nah, best keep the two seperate, and prolong the Halo buzz for as long as possible. And do you know what would be great? If in Christmas 2008, alongside the DVD release of the film, Bungie released the Halo games in a Grand Theft Auto-style trilogy pack, with the first two games 'touched up' a wee bit, so as to bring them closer to Halo 3's graphics. That would be splendid!

  • animal_mother #38 6 years ago

    "And Alien3 had its moments..."

    Yeah, the end credits!

  • Isonic #39 6 years ago

    Is the film gonna be animated?