Game over for Halo movie

Im not surprised. Peter Jackson not going to jump in the directors seat for this one so I say consider it dead. Ohh well. I cry on my PS3 come Nov.

they need to get the people who made the halo wars trailer and have them make that a full movie. now that was an awsome movie and what i was hoping the halo movie would be like. upsetting sure but i am sure it will eventually get made. unlike many iother game movies it has a cult following

They better make it quick, before some other more questionable filmmaker gets it..

On a more serious note, I would still say the Halo movie has potential, but it might need a bit more fleshing out of the story background. But I do not think that MC should play a starring role, considering that Halo 3 is apparently his last game. Perhaps a newcomer to the scene, which will help transistion Halo 1-3 with the rest of the presumely complex Halo world?

Well I'm sure Uwe is interested....

Why dont MS just make the film themselves? They have the audio and video experts. All they need then is a distributer.

Well as much i as would like to see a Halo movie i know how much game to movies suck so its good in a way too.

Not a big fan of Halo but still this news is disappointing. And the idea about M$ making the movie, they've lost so much money anyway so I dont think they can afford to do such a risky project especially if it doesn't deliver.

You can thank schmucks like Uwe Boll for this, who give video game-based movies (and even video games) a very, very bad name.

Awww, too bad, was looking forward to this movie, so much for Sony being the "Money theives" huh?

Side tracking, its a real shame, I was starting to become convinced this would be pretty good, all to be utterly thrown out of the window.

They should take it to Warner Bros. I'm sure they wouldn't mind being the distributors. Heck, take it to Columbia. That would be funny.

Is Joystiq sure of this news? I can't find details of it anywhere on the web :O

Eh. I'll just go watch Starship Troopers or something.

(Seriously.. I can't imagine a Halo movie being any better than Starship Troopers.)

I also realize I'm probably going to get heavily flamed for that. But it's the truthiness of the matter.

#11 -- Try the "read" link at the bottom of the page, the image link, and the "According" link in the story, they all point to this Variety article - http://www.variety.com/VR1117952317.html

This isn't as easy as you think.

Microsoft was not going to finance the movie. They were expecting two studios to do it. Two studios because in this day and age movies are an extremely risky financial proposition and in Hollywood these days the perception and meme being pushed by studio execs this year is that talent costs have become too high, and they're playing hardball right back.

Jim Carrey has had two enormous features shut down, along with Ben Stiller - arguably two of the most bankable stars around. Tom Cruise - even before public nutbaggery displays - had to agree to concessions to get MI3 made.

For Universal, King Kong did not perform where expectations led it to, and on that one they gave Jackson free reign. And despite that cute public Hobbit image, Jackson is as nasty and downright dirty when it comes to looking after himself and his backend. I don't mean this as an insult.

Understandably in Hollywood, having Blokamp come aboard as director was a really bad choice. First time feature director getting their hands on a budget that large must've made the two studios balk, especially as Jackson couldn't get an A list director to do it. For all those rumors of Ridley Scott, let's face it - Halo wouldn't exist without Alien and Aliens (more so Aliens from an aesthetic point of view).

Funny to think, however, that seeing Aliens as a kid in theaters led to me working in films today. That was so long ago and I feel old. I wonder if I would've had the same epiphany being 12 years old, never having seen Aliens, and playing Halo and devoted myself to games.

Ever since Blokamp was announced I have been expecting this news. Risky, bold choice - but directors like him always have problems first time directing actors, and if major studios are going to shut down movies with the biggest stars around due to escalating costs, you can rest assured they'll do the same on a $200 million action picture with a first time director. This is a direct salvo to companies like Microsoft - don't bring us your IP and expect to gain so enormously from our financial risk.

Now let's see if MS have the balls to finance it themselves.

"Microsoft is already in talks with other distribution partners and preparation for the movie will continue. Most of this development is at Peter Jackson's Weta effects studios in New Zealand, so delays should be small."
- http://halomovie.trivialbeing.net

Is Microsoft financing? Its there movie, I think they should input.

Or are they just hoping that the movie studios will pay for it all while they sit back and take in all the cash that comes out of it.

My beleifs in the Halo movie are rather quickly dropping.

The only budget the filmmakers every spoke about was $145 million less the 12.5% rebate that you get from shooting in New Zealand, which would put it at about $128 million.

Probably for the best.

While Halo games are fun to play, the Master Chief is weak character at best and the overall content of it IP probably wouldn't have translated well to screen anyways.

Honestly, I was psyched to see Neil Blomkamp do a feature length movie. The part I was never excited about, actually, was the Halo aspect.

Despite this, I still believe Blomkamp is/will be an amazing director. He seems to thrive on an extremely limited budget (at least what appears to be limited), and I would much rather watch something by him that is his own vision as opposed to someone elses concept that is interpreted by him.

Just make sure Neil Blomkamp doesnt get a budget over $25 dollars, and I am sure it will be amazing!

YES!!!

Now maybe this means I won't have to wait a DECADE for the Evangelion movies.

You Know If You People Actually Read The Article You Would Know That The Film Is not Dead. It Lost Two Studios. Peter And His Crew Still Have the Script And Are Working On The Movie. Movies Lose Studio Financing All The Time. If the Movie Was Meant To Come Out It Will. I Agree Microsoft Should Help, But They Are Just looking For Their Fair Share. Nowadays you Cant Expect Any One Company To Budget On A Film. The Good Movies Are All Budgeted Through Multiple Studios.

Why not just get Uwe to direct it.
He has like 10 different Videogame movies under his belt.

:(

Tex...who said the Halo movie was completly over? I can understand the first few posts as not even they were to sure what was going on.

To be honest, I seriously doubt that even with the financing the Halo movie would have been as good as King Kong let alone LOTR, its not the sort of movie that can appeal to all audiences, LOTR was based off a book and therefore had a more stuctured storyline, just just eh "Defeat the aliens" cliche all over again.

The fact that Master Chief was to feature in it most likely and running around like Commando would make it even more like those one man army films, don't we just hate that? I may have revelutionised game based films, but other then that, it would not have compared to the likes of Star Wars, saying that, I had no doubt it would be a better then average movie.

"Oh my God! What *is* that thing!?"

[tap tap tap beep!] "We're in!"

"It's ok! Forget about me! You have to go on without me!"

"Who's going to save the Earth now?"

"I may only be a woman, damn it, but I want to *fight*!"

"They're...they're everywhere! *We have to get out of here!*" [Explosion, sparks, flickering lights]

I'm not at all sad that we have been deprived the above cheesetacular lines. No, they weren't in the leaked script, but I guarantee that they would have found their way into the final cut.

Whoah, this is the guy that did the Tetra Vaal video?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1845016404760165806

That video was fantastic! Hm...

i personally think that universal studio is bullshit for turning down such a great movie, not only will it break the 200 million dollar mark in the box office, but this maybe the best sale since titanics billion dollar revunue, master in chief should come back blasting his barrels and find another studio who is willing to make money.

I had no plans to go see it, Halo is overated anyways. Halo was just an open eye to those novice console gamers of what PC gamers were experiencing years before.

I am sure the Sci Fi Channel and Uwe Boll can bring out the glory of the overrated Halo series.

fox and uni are crazy , if there was ever a game destined for the big screen it's Halo. i can smell the money its going to make from here .
halo if handled right was always a no brainer ,and with MS and peter jackson being in bed with each other lately everything looked rosy.
just cough up the cash yourself MS , buy peter a studio then your all good and ready for the gears of war movie to :P

as for Neil Blomkamp as directer , i thought it was a very bold move for a movie of this size , thats not to say it wasnt a smart one tho , guys got talent.

why are you all talking like this is the end....they are still working on the movie, and it's almost certain that any smart studio will hop right on it....20th Century and Fox are quite possibly the 2 stupidest film studios now.

This movie will gross double of any Star Wars movie to date, any film company that grabs this IP will make a TON of money. Then again, MS may need to sweeten the deal a bit and have to take a little less on the profit. Maybe Peter Jackson should direct this movie instead of a rookie director, this will bring confidence back to this movie!!

I'm kind of glad that this happened because guess what

The first Halo game would NOT have made an enjoyable film, for filmgoers or for Halo fans. The average movie patron would not be impressed by one-on-one gun battles through the same damn corridor again and again for two hours, while Halo fans have already PLAYED the lead role in Halo. Come on Microsoft, give us something new. Something from the novels, maaybe, like Master Chief's first encounter with the Covenant, or - for ultimate corporate synergy - a movie that takes place in the interim between Halo 2 and Halo 3, released shortly before the third game comes out, with the final shot in the film being the first scene in H3's opening cinematic (although I'd guess that they've already missed this timeframe.)

Has anyone ever thought that most video game movies suck because the stories the filmmakers are working from aren't that great to begin with? Take a good, serious look at the "story" in the Halo games, what's so great and unique about it?

As for those who are saying that any "smart" studio is going to jump right in and take the reigns because it's a "guaranteed hit" and a "cash cow". If that's such a given than why did they have so much trouble finding a studio in the first place? Just because the game has sold a ton of copies doesn't directly translate into box office receipts, if that was the case we'd be on our 15th Madden Movie Sequel by now.

DOH! i was really looking forward to a good halo movie :/

EXCELLENT news :D

YAY!!! I don't want this movie to be made, I am sick and tired of hearing about the OVERRATED two, Halo and Peter Jackson.

This film wont die, i doubt jackson or microsoft will let it. And if they want to make it right it wont be done directly off of the games, the games were made to be fun to play not to watch. The right thing to do would be to make it off of the Eric Nylund Halo novels which are completely outstanding and deserve a movie.

Great news. The Halo universe isn't prime for wonderfully unintentional comedy a la Street Fighter, anyway.

How many times is "overrated" mentioned in all above posts? Wow, I hear that some people actually need to play Halo first! ;)

You don't see a MGS movie or a Zelda movie in production, at least if MS funds this one it still has much hope of shushing most of the bitchers.

Talk about the sensationalistic headline... Seriously Joystiq, read the whole story. It says work is continuing while Peter Jackson and Co. search for a new studio.

some of them*

Indie film! Well, Indie film financed by Bill Gates. Seriously, can you imagine Bill going, "No, I REALLY want a Halo movie. I can afford to lose 200 million."

If that doesn't work, Bungie should put a "Donations to Save Halo Movie" link on their site. They won't get much, but enough for Neil to work with.

MS should handle the finances for this for sure. No other studio should have to. Just like square did with FF the spirits within.

Its probably a good thing anyway. If halo was made into a movie, it would not be anything better then that crappy doom movie with the rock. The doom movie in fact at least had the potential to be better then a halo movie.

I think Jackson likes that this happened. Why? well not to long ago there was an interview with Jackson about why he was buying rights to make feature films of some major books or some older movies. He responded with he just liked working with his own team rather then working with a studio and a deadline.

The studios are wise to pull out.. this film won't pull in anywhere near the audience figures they want. Yes Halo is a great game and a decent story but a movie based on the game will only attract fans of the game, it needs universal audience appeal which it hasn't got. It's a great game universe which is how it should be left, if Halo3 isn't a blockbuster game then the movie would be dead in the water anyway. They'd be much better off getting Bungie to do it themselves as an animated feature with a much smaller budget, that way fans of the game will lap it up and the financial risk is much smaller.

I personally wouldn't want a ZELDA movie. In all the games there is never really a speaking Link cause it is suppose to be HIS voice. I'd hate to see Orlando Bloom as Link too!

Plus, if they did make it, it would be HORRIBLE! Metal Gear Solida might not be that bad but still be a long shot!

And I have played both halos, beaten Halo one on legendary and i saw nothing advanced about the AI, just stronger shields and weapons. it is overrated! trust me and I am not the only one who thinks it.

Oh yeah...check out your beloved Master Chief who was selected.... http://imdb.com/name/nm0689237/

Haha; MS tried playing hardball with the studios and it backfired. Now, they have all this hype, all the sunk costs, and no studio will touch it.

MS should do what Marvel is doing and build their own studio .. that should work out? LOL

"This movie will gross double of any Star Wars movie to date, any film company that grabs this IP will make a TON of money."

Now that is the most ridiculous post i've read in a long time and that's saying something! Star Wars has mass appeal to people of all ages, Halo is for sci-fi fans and XBox gamers and that's it. It's a labour of love for Jackson as he's a big fan of the game, although there are plenty of gamers who adore Halo there's also plenty who can't stand it or FPS games in general. Remember the Final Fantasy movie bombed and that series of games has sold multi millions over the years and still does.

If huge game sales = huge movie ticket sales then Grand Theft Auto the movie would already be in production.