heres an article from www.bungie.net
A few months back word got out that Alex Garland had written a Halo movie script, and that Universal and 20th Century Fox were interested in double-teaming it into a film. We didn't say anything at the time because the deal still needed massaging. But today I'm happy to announce that Microsoft and the studios have worked-out all the kinks, and we're ready to get cracking on the fun, creative part of the process.
You've undoubtedly got questions: "What's the plot? Is it the same as Halo1? Halo2?" "Who's gonna play the Chief? Scratch that – who's gonna play Cortana?" "I read somewhere that the script had ‘bad buzz'. Does that mean the movie's gonna suck?"
I can't respond to any "who, what, where" queries without ruining a bunch of cool surprises, (there will be Grunts - that I guarantee), but as far as the quality of the finished film goes…well, the only thing I can say is: so far so good.
Let me tell you a story…
About six months after Halo1 shipped we started getting calls from Hollywood. This was the summer of 2002 and we were just starting to crank on Halo2, but Pete Parsons (Bungie's studio-manager) decided it was worth me spending a few days in LA to suss out our options.
While I knew that Halo1 had sold well, I didn't know just how far outside the hard-core the so-called "Halo Phenomenon" had spread. So it was pretty shocking to meet a bunch of film producers, writers, etc. who not only claimed to be "big, big fans" of the game, but were able to back-up their assertions with detailed descriptions of their favorite legendary co-op moments, vivid war-stories from recent LAN parties, etc.
Though, to be honest, when I say "shocking" I really mean alluring.
Here were a bunch of smart, talented folks eager to make a film that would be "not just the first great video-game movie, but one of the best sci-fi action movies ever made." And I could see in their eyes that they meant it. You'd think it was a classic "where do I sign?" scenario…but something wasn't right.
Back then the plan was to license the Halo universe lock, stock and barrel with no guaranteed Bungie collaboration. Sure, Halo was a hit, but Hollywood has its own way of doing things. In the case of video-game properties that way is usually "throw me the idol, I'll throw you the whip" – an all-or-nothing proposition in which game-developers accept a whack of cash in exchange for a "we know how to make movies, you don't" assurance of quality.
Cashing-in was much less important to us than securing a seat at the creative table, but that wasn't the only reason why we baulked. Parsons and I knew that any time we spent listening to Hollywood's siren call would be time not spent thinking about Halo2, and that loss of focus could be very, very dangerous. After some sincere "thanks but no thanks," we put the movie project on hold.
Fast-forward two years.
As Halo2 was coming to a particularly crunchy finish, Parsons introduced me to a guy named Peter Schlessel who, among other things, used to be President of Columbia Pictures. Peter's serious Hollywood resume made me worry he'd be pitching a variant of the cruddy idol-whip transaction, but it turned out he was as dubious as we were about selling the Halo IP outright.
In fact, he thought it would be crazy.
"Finance the script yourselves," Peter urged, "Hire a writer, have him write something you love, then bring it to Hollywood with a simple message: ‘This is the movie we want to make. Who wants to make it with us?'"
It was a ballsy plan – just the sort of plan we like – and if Schlessel thought we could shake-up the status quo without ****ing it off in the process, Parsons and I were all for it. A few days later Schlessel sent me a short list of writers he thought were up to the challenge.
[Edited by HurricaneIvan, 7/27/2006 12:58:00 PM]