Halo Movie coming spring of 06

[t-toe]

interesting... if a studio picks up this deal, the Halo movie could very well be the first movie based on a video game that doesn't suck. I would absolutely love to see a movie that tied in with the Haloverse.

[FlyByNight]

benttlama whats the 411??... u musta heard sumthin :)

[Lifthz]

Hopefully it does justice to the story and characters. I would wish it to be all very well-done CGI using a lot of mocap rather than live actors.

Imagine all those characters at the quality of Gollum. :) Won't happen though, of course.

[Frank Lake]

Bungie's in for a rude surprise when no studio with an awsome movie list will touch thier project. Heck not many left after the ones listed in the article.

They'll even have more trouble finding a director who will tolerate thier view on how the movie 'will be' made. That doesn't even cover how most of the script will have to be re-written nor the fact that any Halo movie will have to pay a certain someone for a certain objects usage.

With so many failed 'game' movies people will be shying away from this.

[Mister_Ninja]

I dont think bungie or bentllama will be commenting on it. they have completely ignored the fact that everyone knows halo3 is coming out and so far, it seems bungie wont be saying anything on the movie.

one thing i dont get is how are they going to get the movie out by spring 06 when they havent even started production yet?

[FlyByNight]

I dont think bungie or bentllama will be commenting on it. they have completely ignored the fact that everyone knows halo3 is coming out and so far, it seems bungie wont be saying anything on the movie.

one thing i dont get is how are they going to get the movie out by spring 06 when they havent even started production yet?

ok......:sad:

[L.Rawlins]

What the hell does '411' actually mean? :shrug:

[Project813]

411 is what someone dials in the US to look up a number, or also referred to as "calling information"...

411 = info. :)

[L.Rawlins]

You crazy foreigners. :)

...

Heh. I needed the 411 on the '411'.

Conundrum, I think so.

[MCronin]

one thing i dont get is how are they going to get the movie out by spring 06 when they havent even started production yet?

This is shaping up to be a bomb of epic proportions; a video game movie based on shallow property with creative control given to a corporation rather than to someone who knows how to make movies, and an impossible schedule because they want cross promotion with a video game release.. this will be spectacularly bad.

[Geta-Ve]

interesting... if a studio picks up this deal, the Halo movie could very well be the first movie based on a video game that doesn't suck. I would absolutely love to see a movie that tied in with the Haloverse.

Need I remind you of the masterpiece that is Mario Brothers?

[Chris Bacon]

I REALY hope they dont blow this......Halo is perhaps the best game Ive ever played....and I love the books......just hope they dont mess it up....

[FlyByNight]

You crazy foreigners. :)

...

Heh. I needed the 411 on the '411'.

Conundrum, I think so.

hey, im from the uk too man :) '93 mary j blige album title:)

anyway, i gues unfortunately it will be a bad movie :sad: thats not enough time to pull off something that would do it justice... i agree that it would look best as a cgi feature though...

creative control should stick with bungie imo... way too many if not allmovies are corporate affairs and lack integrity... i think it would be refreshing to see this aproach even if it comes out poor, if u get my meaning.. :)

[Hazdaz]

So is this going to be a live action movie or CG? I know they mentioned "actors" in that article, but they might have meant actors doing the voice-overs.

I think it really should be a CG movie, but I get the fealing that it would be live action - I don't think it could be as good if it's live action though. THey would need so much CG for the Covanent and Flood enemies that unless they do a really good job with it, it will come out poorly.

Honestly, I would think it would be kinda cool if they took a page from the machinima-way of making movied.... using the actual in-game graphics and just string a good story behind it. Maybe spruce up the graphics a bit - add better animation, but overall, use alot of the existing graphics from the upcoming game. That would really connect the movie story with the next game.

[Hugh-Jass]

whatever happens with it , be a shame if Marty doesn't have a hand in the music...

the rest they can do with clay and stop motion ...gumby master chief

[pearson]

The only way this is going to be a winner is if they get a great director who know's how to tell a story, and doesn't just think "We'll blow stuff up! In space! With aliens!!!". Of course, such a director might want some creative control...
:shrug:

[heavyness]

i like how Bungie is saying "their way or the highway"

they aren't just selling the IP off and collecting the money. even if you don't like Halo or don't think it will be a good movie, you have to commend them on standing their ground.

will it work? who knows. its a little pre-mature to comment one way or the other.

[iconic2]

I REALY hope they dont blow this......Halo is perhaps the best game Ive ever played....and I love the books......just hope they dont mess it up....
I only know Halo that is a best game before see this post.

[kiaran]

Heh. I needed the 411 on the '411'.

LOL. Good stuff.

[Zeruel the 14th]

Sounds tasty. Hopefully we'll get to see a Halo onscreen. As a fan of 'The Culture'. It'd be about the closest thing to being able to see a Culture Orbital. Thats two hits for me!

I can't wait. Here's hoping its True. (and not a Bomb)
(It should also have Cortana, who sounds sexy)

[DrFx]

I have two words for all of you: SAM RAIMI :p

[mireneye]

interesting... if a studio picks up this deal, the Halo movie could very well be the first movie based on a video game that doesn't suck. I would absolutely love to see a movie that tied in with the Haloverse.

You forget about Resident Evil dude. That serie of movies rock for beeing survival.

[t-toe]

Resident Evil... hhhhhhhhhhaaaaa!!!

upon further consideration of my previous statement... I don't really know if a movie can be good given less than a year for pre-production, production, and post-production. as far as the quality of the film goes, I don't doubt the blokes at Bungie could translate their superior video-game-story-telling skills to a feature film, given that they have creative-control...

but doesn't anyone remember how many times Halo 2's release was bumped back? who's to say it's not gonna happen with Halo 3? maybe there would be enough time for a quality film after all...

[rab]

but doesn't anyone remember how many times Halo 2's release was bumped back? who's to say it's not gonna happen with Halo 3? maybe there would be enough time for a quality film after all...

They had one actual release date for Halo 2 and they shipped on that date. Any other dates you saw or heard about were rumors.

[DDS]

Good to hear....although I don't think it's a good time to try to make a movie from a videogame, because it will suck. Directors emphatize so much action scenes and FX that they forget about story, and the story of the game itself was nothing impressive at all, so I don't think they improve it making a masterpiece.

Anyways, I hope (like always) that this will be the first one of the AMAZING videogame related movies! (Resident Evil was CRAP)

Just my 2 cents ;)

[heavyness]

maybe the guys over at Bungie had a movie in the back of the heads the whole time. the whole universe [games, books, hell even the ilovebees thing] have a great storyline. maybe the movie wont be based on Halo 1, 2, 3... might be a Halo 4

every video game movie tried to duplicate a pre-existing storyline, but i would nice if the Halo movie gave us an entirely new storyline that fits in with the current game timeline.

[Ezekiel19]

Its clear Microsoft doesnt know much about the movie business. They want this movie to come out in Spring of 06. That means this move would have start production soon no later than fall or winter of 05.

I want a good Halo Movie, something that rivals Matrix 1, and Lord of the Rings. Not some ugly version of "Battleship Troopers."

This could be a good movie, if not rushed. Which I fear will be case.

Productions takes months, filming takes 2-3 months and the post production.

Please dont treat it like a "AVP" or "Resident Evil" Microsoft.

Get ILM involved

[Frank Lake]

Get ILM involved
Naw, get Pixar. ;) Though it'll take them longer then 8 months to put out the nessasary CG for the film.

But more importantly just who would play Master Chief or his sexy, slightly Rampant, AI? :shrug:

[Lunatique]

I would be very surprised if whatever studio decides to pick it up will tolerate the silly midget aliens in Halo. It was a bad concept, and whatever attempt to inject humor into Halo with those little guys were misguided. There are many ways to inject humor into a supposedly serious, grand, epic plot, but having cartoony midget aliens that spout off silly cartoony voices in ENGLISH that the player could actually understand is NOT one of them. It cheapens the feel of the world, and it takes away the feel of dread and fear regarding the enemy. Bad call all the way IMO. But beyond that, I think Halo would make a great film--if they could actually come up with a plot that's beyond just gunning things down or running around in mazes. Character development and relationships would be vital.

[Dirtystimpy]

Its clear Microsoft doesnt know much about the movie business. They want this movie to come out in Spring of 06. That means this move would have start production soon no later than fall or winter of 05.



not so fast... I was there when War of the Worlds started up last fall, and is up for a June release. People were doing double takes when they saw how fast everything needed to be done.

Money talks

[Frank Lake]

Dirtystimpy, maybe you should do the math involved in your statement. WoTW was worked on for over 7 months. That meant HUNDREDS of people had to be in place before any production was done, so tack on a few more months to that number and don't forget the preplanning that was involved just to get things moving!

The Bungie boys want Halo a specfic way and it's very doubtful that they'll get an talented director/producer to dance exactly to their script. But then again we all saw what the Matrix was like....

[Crazzy Legs]

Resident Evil... hhhhhhhhhhaaaaa!!!

but doesn't anyone remember how many times Halo 2's release was bumped back? who's to say it's not gonna happen with Halo 3? maybe there would be enough time for a quality film after all...


There never was a Halo 2 release date until Bungie specified one, and they met the date perfectly. Everything elese you heard was rumor. If you heard it in a magazine, tv, newspaper, doesn't matter what it was, if the date wasn't in quotes by someone from Bungie, it didn't mean anything.

[Dirtystimpy]

Dirtystimpy, maybe you should do the math involved in your statement. WoTW was worked on for over 7 months. That meant HUNDREDS of people had to be in place before any production was done, so tack on a few more months to that number and don't forget the preplanning that was involved just to get things moving!

...

- My point was, that job came up super quick, and the people I was working with, thought.....at first, there was no way a movie of that scale would be done so quick.

Now I would hope to hell the halo movie won't be rushed. I just hope they take the time to give it a good ending.

[t-toe]

...having cartoony midget aliens that spout off silly cartoony voices in ENGLISH that the player could actually understand is NOT one of them. It cheapens the feel of the world, and it takes away the feel of dread and fear regarding the enemy...

when I first started playing Halo, I agreed with you. it wasn't until later on in the game that I realized that these "midget" aliens (as you so aptly describe them) were an entirely seperate race from the other baddies (in fact, the Covenant is actually made up of several races sharing a common belief system), with the intelligence equivalent of a dog to the Covenant order.

and, though this was never sufficiently described in the first game, the reason you can understand the aliens is not because they speak English. it's because, like Star Trek/Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy/Most Other Sci-Fi Out There, they have Universal Translators.

though I will agree with you that their voices leave something to be... desired. but they more than made up for it in the 2nd game by including some of the best voice talent out there... (that main Prophet's voice sends chills down my spine, it's so sinister and smooth.)

[ytse77]

They should shop for a director who is actually a fan of the Halo games and books. This comes to mind after watching the season finale for CSI which Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed. It was awsome. And he s a fan of CSI. Plus a "fan" director would be more likely to agree with whatever "rules" Bungie has set up for the story.

[Solothores]

New Rumour:

Master Chief reports for duty at both Fox and Universal!!!


Ahoy, squirts! Quint (quint@aintitcool.com) here with some (potentially) great news. We know that last week Microsoft took Alex (28 DAY LATER) Garland's newly finished adaptation of their X-BOX big breadwinner game, sending out fully costumed Master Chiefs to hand deliver the scripts to various studios. We also know they wanted $10 Million for the script.

Now we've gotten word that the trades will be breaking that HALO has been picked up in partnership by Fox and Universal.

Here's the heads up I got from the good people at Sorryigotdrunk.com (http://www.sorryigotdrunk.com/) who have been following this really closely.

>>>After being the ass end of the joke when they sent out the script with high demands on Monday, it looks like those nihilists at CAA and Microsoft will have the last laugh. Lazlo's spies tell me that Fox and Universal are working out deal to buy Halo for $5 million; split costs. It is about half of what they were asking for on Monday, but it is more coin then our drunks asses will ever see. The movie should be in theaters by 2007

Your loyal solider,
Lazlo<<<

This has been backed up by at least one other source of mine and has just been confirmed by Variety (http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=upsell_article&articleID=VR1117924199&categoryID=13&cs=1). Funny that it's at Fox considering HALO itself owes a huge debt to Cameron's ALIENS. I'm dying to read the script to this, as one who has lost many, many hours to Halo gunning down those Covenant bastards! So, if anybody out there has Garland's draft, I wouldn't be angry if you dropped me a line at quint@aintitcool.com. Hehe...

I think a damn cool movie can be made out of the game... Could HALO be the first great video game movie? What do you folks think?

Source:
http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/display.cgi?id=20419

[bentllama]

................................

[Laa-Yosh]

I would be very surprised if whatever studio decides to pick it up will tolerate the silly midget aliens in Halo. It was a bad concept, and whatever attempt to inject humor into Halo with those little guys were misguided. There are many ways to inject humor into a supposedly serious, grand, epic plot, but having cartoony midget aliens that spout off silly cartoony voices in ENGLISH that the player could actually understand is NOT one of them. It cheapens the feel of the world, and it takes away the feel of dread and fear regarding the enemy. Bad call all the way IMO.

Sounds like you haven't played The Maw in a higher difficulty level. I truly feared those spec ops black grunts, sometimes even more than the elites... those guys had fuel rod guns! And their small size allowed them to fully disappear behind cover, so it was very easy to get one of them to flank you...

[Slurry]

I don't know much about this Halo movie rumour but in response to some of the posts in the thread I'd like to add my comments:

I really enjoyed the vertically challenged aliens. They are cool. It's a great way to bring players up to speed. Start out with these cute, dumb little alien bastards. They are easy and fun to kill. You'll get used to the controls and gameplay....then we'll move you on to tougher baddies.
Can't please everyone with the design or voices perhaps...but that's ok.

You may not be able to get a talented well known director to jump on to a project where creative control is held by a corporation. That doesn't mean you can't find a talented up and coming director to take the helm.
I'm sure there are a ton of young, talented directors who would jump at the chance to make a movie like this. I know I would.

You can create a movie within the proposed timeline. If you have enough money and resources. I maen, houses can be built in a day. Why can't a movie be filmed in a year? It's still spring 2005 (until June 21). If they announced the movie, there is a chance they have some of the pre-production organising in place already.
Alot of it would depend on money though and I don't think microsoft has much of that.

Hmmm...what else....oh yeah. I think it would be cool if the artists at Bungie were the ones to make the film. Just expand their studio for the duration of the movie. I know if I worked there, I'd be stoked to work on a feature based on the game.

Anyway, my comments are just speculations based on more and more speculation.
I hope it all works out for everyone involved.

Art

[Ezekiel19]

Microsoft nears movie deal for 'Halo' videogame

By Bob Tourtellotte2 hours, 46 minutes ago



Microsoft Corp. was near a deal on Friday to sell the rights to make a movie based on hit video game series "Halo" after a recent round of Hollywood talks in which a high asking price and demands for creative input drew the ire of some parties, sources said.

The bidding for a movie based on "Halo" and "Halo 2," a science fiction series about a warrior named Master Chief who battles aliens, began on Monday when a script commissioned by Microsoft was delivered to Hollywood studios by messengers wearing Master Chief green armor and toting laser guns.

Represented by Creative Artists Agency, Microsoft sought an unusually high upfront payment of $10 million plus 15 percent of initial gross box office sales, which led several studios to drop out of talks, according to sources near the deal-making.

Universal Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox teamed up to make the winning offer that calls for an initial payment of $5 million plus 10 percent of initial box office receipts, sources said, although they cautioned that final details may change.

A formal announcement is likely next week after creative issues are hammered out between the studios and Microsoft.

Fox declined to comment and Universal said it did not discuss pending deals.

Microsoft spokesman Carlos de Leon would not confirm financial details nor would Creative Artists, but the deal is notable for several reasons.

Typically a Hollywood studio or producer might spot a hot game, comic, or story and buy the film rights. The studio or producer would hire a writer, then seek financial partners.

SHOW US THE CONTROL

In this case, however, Microsoft hired writer Alex Garland, who penned 2003 horror hit "28 Days Later," to dream up the story. Microsoft and CAA then sent their script to the studios and demanded to be part of the creative development.

"Microsoft is not in the business of making movies, and that is why we want to partner with the studios. (But) we have an obligation to make sure the 'Halo' franchise is protected and is something 'Halo' fans can be proud of," said de Leon.

He said that soon after the first "Halo" game became a hit in 2001, Microsoft was approached by Hollywood studios and producers wanting to snap up the movie rights, but the company was always mindful of maintaining some sort of creative input.

The "Halo" games have been huge hits for Microsoft's Xbox video game group. When released last fall, "Halo 2" sold 2.4 million units in its first day. Overall, the franchise has sold 13 million units worldwide, generating some $600 million in revenue, according to various industry sources.

Movies based on video games have turned in mixed results in Hollywood. The most successful was 2001's "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" which raked in $275 million worldwide for Paramount Pictures, according to boxofficemojo.com

The sequel, "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life," was widely considered a flop in the U.S. and Canada with only $66 million in ticket sales, although it did prove more successful in the international market, with $91 million.

[Mister_Ninja]

................................
he! he! he! you can't comment cause you probably read the script already........

Its good to hear info saying it might be coming out in 2007, that gives me hope that this movie might become something great. The one down side to this is now I will have to wait longer. :P

[SheepFactory]

the only way this movie can be good is if they cast Rick Moranis as master chief.

[Rye]

are you the gatekeeper?

[tozz]

an extremely slow movie where everything looks exactly the same... can't wait :rolleyes:. Give me Oni damnit.

[novadude]

the only way this movie can be good is if they cast Rick Moranis as master chief.

Something might end up very small if they did...

[Frank Lake]

bentlama's reply is just great! :applause:

Don't know whether it's true or nor, but I really love how the articles imply backpedaling of M$/Bungie's demand for total creative control. :D

Anyways I hope that they get a director who will allow the creative director to have his way with the FX and designs like Carpenter did with "The Thing" or at least have an AWSOME lead designer(ala Giger) for the movie. Because just about every SF style movie that's ever truely worked has seemingly come about because of this combo.

[Laa-Yosh]

You mean creatures, right? Most of the starship design is still derived from Star Wars, and probably Syd Mead's Balde Runner stuff, too...

[Ezekiel19]

Now a 2007 release date sounds more realistic.

Much time to a make a good movie, and descent plot.

[animateddave]

I can see the thread now, "Halo The Movie: The Reviews Start Snoring In!".

[-Vormav-]

Sounds like you haven't played The Maw in a higher difficulty level. I truly feared those spec ops black grunts, sometimes even more than the elites... those guys had fuel rod guns! And their small size allowed them to fully disappear behind cover, so it was very easy to get one of them to flank you...

Regardless of how deadly they could potentially be, the point that their cartoony voices didn't help anything certainly still stands. Of course I also found that the overly stereotypical badass shouts of all of the marines that you'd have aiding you ruined the feeling of the game just as much as the cartoony voices.
Don't get me wrong, it was still a great game, but it definitely could have done without that.

[Kid-Mesh]

So then what ever happend to the so called "Doom" movie? I hope they actually come out it with it (Halo) regardless :drool:

[heavyness]

So then what ever happend to the so called "Doom" movie? I hope they actually come out it with it (Halo) regardless :drool:

Doom is still being made. stars The Rock

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419706/

...and Robert Russel as Dr. Carmack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carmack) ha!

[Cyborgguineapig]

No, please don't let it happen...

[Liquidus Snake]

I REALY hope they dont blow this......Halo is perhaps the best game Ive ever played....and I love the books......just hope they dont mess it up....

I don't think Halo has the script quality to warrent a movie that won't bomb.

Games that should be made into movies instead of/before Halo:

Devil May Cry
Metal Gear Solid
Tekken
Chaos Legion
Castlevania

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