Saturday, November 20, 2004
 

News: Master Chief - Action Hero?
Posted by Chris :: 10:41 AM
c/o xbox.ign.com

November 19, 2004 - As if there needed to be any more Halo hype, the Internet is abuzz today with rumors of a potential Halo movie in the works. If the rumors are to be believed, Director Ridley Scott, known for his excellent science fiction films Blade Runner and Alien, is looking at potentially directing said film, with Ed Harris potentially playing the role of Captain Keyes and Samuel L. Jackson playing Captain Johnson.

Microsoft came up with its own special comment on the subject: "Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation." Which naturally shocked us.

It's not the first time the notion of a Halo movie has been bandied around, but two generally reliable sites, halo.scifinews.de, and aint-it-cool-news.com have come up with leaks on it.

Halo.scifinews.de claims to have early storyboard drafts on the movie, with early pencil sketches of Ed Harris looking a whole lot like Captain Keyes. The draft images are not in any previous Halo art books. Ain'-it-cool-news.com received a letter from an insider at Warner Brothers, where Ronald Shusett and Daniel Alter are apparently in touch with Scott about a potential Halo movie, no doubt as part of some smart movers and shakers working behind the scenes at E3 and the game's unearthly sales records.

Here's an excerpt from the aint-it-cool-news.com letter:

"Now the tricky part is, apparently Ridley Scott has seen the materials before. And subsequently passed on doing it. But, with HALO 2 sales having been astronomical, Shusett and Alter's camp has been in-touch with Scott Free about it. What's more, upon reviewing the game, Shusett commented that it reminded him of STARSHIP TROOPERS, which apparently Ridley and him had considered collaborating on 20 plus years ago after ALIEN came out. Funny, considering Shusett's TOTAL RECALL director Paul Verhoeven went on to bastardize Heinlein's classic.

"Don't know if Ridley's budged. Or how serious Bungie is about licensing the movie rights. But a HALO movie from the creative team behind ALIEN, and who also toyed with STARSHIP TROOPERS, would seem to be a great fit. What I wonder is if these parties can't come to an accord, why wouldn't Bungie be open to somebody like James Cameron?"

Bungie, of course, has been offered the chance to make a movie before, and being the smart, thrifty developer it is, its team has said no to everybody. However, Studio Manager Pete Parsons recently said that if there was to be a movie made, it would have to be the right people, story, and timing. Bungie has also been quoted as saying that they're big fans of Ridley Scott and they would love having him behind such a film.

There is no word on whether Scott has yet to accept any deal. But according to our very own FilmForce.com, the legendary director has been hesitant to take up the project because he hasn't seen a world for the story.

Once again, we're all up speculation creek without a paddle. All we know is, where there is money to be made in the videogame world, Hollywood comes running.

Also, we're quite clear on another subject, which should make everyone pause for concern: while there might have been some excellent movies based on comic books, if the best videogame movie to date is Resident Evil, a potential Halo movie could be awful. If Ridley Scott and some very smart, very well-read Halo writers are put on the project, there is at least some hope.

Hmm, interesting. Thing is, though, do we REALLY need a Halo movie? Cause we all know Hollywood. Just make a full length Red vs Blue movie and we'll all be happy. The AICN article also goes on to say "I think the best thing about this bit of information is Bungie's reluctance to give the film rights to anybody but a master. The last thing I want to see is Uwe Boll's HALO (C: Uwe Boll was the director of House of the Dead and the up coming Bloodrayne and several other asstastic video game movies.) which would undoubtedly take place modern day, without any mention of either the Flood or the Covenant and starring Ben Affleck as Master Chief and Tara Reid as Cortana."

So true. When will people realize that video game movies just don't work? And if it does get made it'll probably end up starring The Rock anyway.

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