Halo director chosen, movie out summer '08
by Christopher Grant 
{ Aug 9th 2006 at 1:45PM }
After months of speculation, Microsoft announced their choice for director of the film adaptation of their star property, Halo, this morning. After enlisting New Zealand's Peter Jackson to serve as Executive Producer last October, there has been little revealed about the secretive project. Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro seemed like a brilliant choice -- a proven storyteller with a knack for FX work -- but scheduling conflicts (apparently) couldn't be overcome. Enter South Africa's Neill Blomkamp, director of last year's exceptional short film Alive in Joburg, a futuristic commentary on Apartheid in South Africa where aliens have become refugees. The film, embedded after the break, blends photorealistic CGI with handheld, documentary style filmmaking.
Described in his bio as "a new breed of director, [who] has harnessed the powers of technology, art and creativity to bring the world imagery never before possible" and by Microsoft as "one of the most innovative and original artists currently working in short films and commercial advertising," Blomkamp seems as unlikely a choice to direct Halo as ... well, as Peter Jackson was to direct Lord of the Rings. The film will be shot in Wellington, New Zealand -- to take advantage of Jackson's state-of-the-art Weta facilities -- and will see a worldwide release in the summer of 2008.
[Thanks, Evan]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nalgae @ Aug 9th 2006 1:47PM
Hooray! Not Uwe Boll!
Huzzah!! @ Aug 9th 2006 1:48PM
This movie is going to TANK! I don't know how a halo movie could possibly be good. (as with all game-to-movie movies.) Stick to the game, folks.
Huzzah!! @ Aug 9th 2006 1:50PM
If anyone can do it, though, he seems like the perfect guy. I was feeling the Halo in that short clip.
spoo @ Aug 9th 2006 1:50PM
I hope Halo 3 won't come out in 2008 now.
jc @ Aug 9th 2006 1:55PM
Neill Blomkamp doesn't have much directing experience, but his 3D work might help.
But as nalgae said, at least it's not Uwe Boll...
supadude5000 @ Aug 9th 2006 1:58PM
That short film is pretty sweet. Hopefully this movie will give Halo the shot of...I don't know...PLOT that the games have been severely lacking (if it weren't for the books there wouldn't be anything).
SickNic @ Aug 9th 2006 1:58PM
A barely heard of commercial director? Sounds sketchy, but he sounds like he could be bringing a breath of fresh air to the movies. Call me intrigued.
MO @ Aug 9th 2006 1:59PM
Hope it doesn't suck
Stupidiot @ Aug 9th 2006 1:59PM
If the film is focused more on being a science-fiction than an action thriller, this could end up being pretty good.
bv @ Aug 9th 2006 2:01PM
That short film reminded me of GRAW for the 360. Helicopter cut
scenes and desolate city street battles. Pretty sweet.
KR @ Aug 9th 2006 2:14PM
As much as I like Del Toro for Blade II and Hellboy, I think this is a step in the right direction. An unknown director like this will probably be a lot more dedicated to the project and bust his ass more than someone more established would.
Loque @ Aug 9th 2006 2:16PM
I wonder if you will be able to buy it on Blu-ray :)
Christopher7xii @ Aug 9th 2006 2:17PM
Out with the old, in with the new. Not really excited over the halo franchise, but new directors do. Fans will hate the movie, but it could be a sci-fi lovers dream.
Then again, why aim to please the demographic of "12 year olds who spend 6 hours a night in match-making using live as an outlet to swear in from of adults and not get yelled at"? I mean, call me insane, but wasn't Halo huge for it's multiplayer, not for it's story campaign? Especially Halo 2?
that guy @ Aug 9th 2006 2:27PM
Not to be Mr. Pessimistic, but I wonder if this guy has ever even played Halo or Halo 2. I'm guessing no.
Jellodyne @ Aug 9th 2006 2:28PM
The director of 3000 Miles to Graceland? Oh, yeah, he's got the skills to direct a video game movie, in the glorious tradition of crappy video game movies.
WamBam @ Aug 9th 2006 2:29PM
How about instead of making out film based on Halo, they make a video game of Alive in Joburg? That short film was pretty sweet and I can already imagine playing it.
Zedd @ Aug 9th 2006 2:34PM
Check out this short movie he directed, can we expect a computer animated master chief?
http://analogik.com/multimedia/video/tetra-vaal.mov
Abbas @ Aug 9th 2006 2:36PM
Someone please explain all this Halo hype. I played Halo on the PC for a week and the excitement was over.
PancakesHouse @ Aug 9th 2006 2:48PM
If you know anything about the official Halo cannon, you will know there is much more to this story than the games reveal. I think the games are lacking in alot of plot details, whereas canon like the books, ilovebees, and now the graphic novel, really bring out the emotion and severity of the crisis that is the human, convenent, and flood war.
I sincerely hope that this will be more of a epic Sci-fi film rather than an action, guns blazing, one-liner shoot everything film. IT has the potential, and it looks as this director may know how to use that potential for the better.
pat @ Aug 9th 2006 2:56PM
Neill Blomkamp has some history dealing with special effects, check out this Citroen transformer ad he did awhile back.
http://www.theembassyvfx.com/citroen.html
skr1lls @ Aug 9th 2006 2:57PM
Blomkamp is a good choice. I've worked with him before, in the adversting world. Good instinct, great sensability. He will do this movie justice.
1up_clock @ Aug 9th 2006 3:16PM
Even though I'm not too fond of the games, I have to say I think this man is the perfect choice.
Geist @ Aug 9th 2006 3:21PM
Never heard of him, but that means little. What I think is that many fanboys will like the movie regardless, critics will dislike it because of its link to videogames, and gamers will find it pretty good, with some inconsitencies.
But then, I suppose there is some potential for this to be an actually decent stand-alone movie, ie, one that doesn't need the videogame in order to stand out.
joe @ Aug 9th 2006 3:27PM
#Zedd I though that was Blomkamp... yea this guy is good both terta and the short film are dope blending photorealistic cgi and live action, i have watched that vid on your tube serveral times.
watch the terta vall movie its errie becasue 30 years of now that will be reality.
you guys can relax, imaging the master chief instead of that robot.
Halo will be a grity action movie, provide the script is good, the action sequences will be as well.
good news for halo fans.
Scott @ Aug 9th 2006 3:33PM
After looking at his previous work, I can see Halo doing well in his hands. That Alive in Joburg short film showed that he can do some pretty serious sci-fi. How he'll be able to translate that to something epic like Halo's plotline and the demands of directing a major film is another question.
Andrew @ Aug 9th 2006 3:35PM
Here's another short he made, called "Yellow".
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Jmd8BDiB-qU
Andrew @ Aug 9th 2006 3:38PM
Does anyone know if the story is going to be totally new? As in not based on any of the books? Because I think an "origin" story that begins with "john" becoming a spartan and ends with the Fall of Reach would be an awesome movie.
AoE @ Aug 9th 2006 3:48PM
@ Jellodyne,
Demian Lichtenstein (the director of 3000 Miles to Graceland) isn't directing the Halo movie... at least not acording to this blog post... Neill Blomkamp is; he was only a 3D animator for 3000 Miles to Graceland...
FofR @ Aug 9th 2006 3:51PM
All of Neill Blomkamp's videos can be seen here: http://halomovie.trivialbeing.net
Brian Sexton @ Aug 9th 2006 4:13PM
"This movie is going to TANK! I don't know how a halo movie could possibly be good. (as with all game-to-movie movies.)"
I thought the Resident Evil and Silent Hill movies were decent; not great, but good. And there have been plenty of good movies based upon comic books, novels, and short stories, so I see no reason why a game with a good story cannot be adapted into a good movie. It just needs to be put into the right hands.
Scott @ Aug 9th 2006 4:20PM
#26 - The plot you just described is the plot for the first book, The Fall of Reach.
Darkenigma75 @ Aug 9th 2006 4:43PM
That short was one of the best pieces of film I have ever seen. If this guy does half as good with Halo as he did with that, then I am there.
Geist @ Aug 9th 2006 4:51PM
I thought the Resident Evil movie (the first one) was not bad. Keep in mind I had not played the video game when I watched it. Silent Hill I loved, but more for its art direction and attention to setting and style than anything else.
As for this director, after watching some of his films, I think he can really take it in a non-action-explosion-fest direction. If he keeps his style, this could be a really story-driven movie. Here's hoping.
supersloth @ Aug 9th 2006 4:58PM
My initial reaction was the obvious 'WTF' having never heard of this guy, but after reading up and seeing a lot of the links here I came away impressed. Everything seems to be very down to earth, very gritty, even with sci-fi backdrops. All of the animations seem to have a very high and realistic level of integration with the world around them, look at the police bot in the movie that was posted and honestly tell me you don't think theres a little Master Chief in there. The core's of the Halo story (Alien and Human interaction, Artificial Intelligence, war and it's inherint drama) are present in all of his work and based on what I see I am pleasantly surprised by the choice. Take all this, add Peter Jackson supervising and the world class FX house at WETA, and I'm pretty excited for the flick.
supadude5000 @ Aug 9th 2006 5:00PM
Halo will always be one of the most overhyped game series of all time.
Mark D. @ Aug 9th 2006 5:10PM
After watching all his shorts, I think the potential is definitely there for Halo to be the best game-to-movie translation yet. Neil's previous work deals with topics analogous to the Spartans and it's amazing the emotions it manages to convey in a few minutes.
NATO_Duke @ Aug 9th 2006 5:11PM
I think its nice to see a lesser known director getting it. Sometimes a huge resume transfers into a lazy job when it comes to the story telling. Boll being a party to it would have been death, as we all know. Yet, a bigger name could easily "waterworld" this epic as well.
Ford Dent @ Aug 9th 2006 5:48PM
This is exactly the sort of person who should be directing the Halo movie. Now as long as he gets a decent script to work with, we could have a video game movie that doesn't cause me to laugh hysterically for all the wrong reasons (Doom, anyone?).
James @ Aug 9th 2006 5:56PM
Does anyone really think that Steven Jackson going to let his name attached to something that's going to suck? Even if the director is not well known, Steven Jackson will probably have quite a bit of input into the movie.
elmer @ Aug 9th 2006 6:40PM
Goddammit.
Now we have to wait 'till 2010 for Evangelion. And THAT's assuming Halo's made as one film
Copperhead @ Aug 9th 2006 8:16PM
Let's hope the production suits don't screw up and let this guy do -his- thing, because from what I've seen so far, his thing rocks.
Luke Cashmore @ Aug 9th 2006 9:48PM
if peter jackson is envoled, does that mean theres going to be 7 hours of dilouge and a trilogy? or does it just mean theres going to be lots of generic valiant scenes where people quote 'cmon men we will fight this last battle' before fighting many more valiant last battles. Or does it simply mean that theres going to be lots of panning shots of wide open feilds? i mean theres just too much excitement to chose from.
JoshTheGr888 @ Aug 15th 2006 12:59PM
Halo is the greatest game series of all time -- not the "most overhyped".
If you've only played the "PC version for one week," or you've only played the Xbox version once or twice, then please don't assume your opinion counts for jack. Maybe you don't like First Person Shooters, or maybe you are one of those people that just hates Microsoft and everything they do. Whatever the reason, saying the game is overrated is absolutely ridiculous.
The original game Halo: Combat Evolved CARRIED the entire Xbox console for the first year of it's existence. There was no "Halo hype" back then -- the game spoke for itself, and it was Microsoft's saving grace for the Xbox console.
The game -- in both the multiplayer and campaign modes -- is excellent in every aspect. Bungie studios is top-notch, with more attention to detail than any game maker I've ever seen. The contract with the movie studio specifically states that Bungie will be involved with the movie, start to finish. Fantastic.
Anyone that is a passive fan of the Halo games should read the prequel book, The Fall Of Reach. I didn't read the book until last year, well after Halo 2 was released. It was given to me as a gift, and I was only half-heartedly interested at first. But the background story -- from the creation of the Spartans to the war with the Covenant -- WILL get you hooked. I named my son John 117. Maybe not, but I'm a huge fan of the entire Halo universe now, not just a guy that enjoys playing the game.
Overall, I think Halo could potentially rival the likes of Star Wars. Yes, I SAID IT! Sure, it would take 20 years of hype and about 10,000 pieces to fall in the right places. But looking at the basic storylines, Halo spanks Star Wars.
The movie will go beyond merely setting a new standard for video game-based movies. The movie will bring about die-hard fans who have never even played the game.