Universal, Fox close to Halo movie deal

[odysseus145]

I hope this works out. I'd love to see Halo made into a movie.<br /><br /><br />Universal, Fox close to Halo movie deal<br /><br />Variety reports the two studios want to jointly shoulder burden of bringing the Master Chief to the big screen, but some sticking points remain.<br /><br />Apparently the movie moguls at Universal Pictures are closet gamers. With one major game adaptation in postproduction--Doom, which is due out later this year--the venerable film studio has signed on to bring an even more popular shooter to the silver screen.<br /><br />Today's Variety (subscription required) is reporting that Universal has partnered with 20th Century Fox to cofinance the film version of the biggest Xbox franchise of all time, Halo. Sources told the Hollywood trade that the two companies are in final negotiations to buy the Halo movie rights from Microsoft, which had couriers--dressed as the Master Chief--make the rounds at all the major studios earlier this week. They carried a Bungie Studios-approved script from 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland.<br /><br />While Halo's huge fan base--the series has sold nearly 13 million copies--would normally be catnip to Hollywood executives, Microsoft reportedly put forth conditions that put off many studios. According to reports in several media outlets, including a detailed account in today's New York Times (registration required), Microsoft demanded $10 million against 15 percent of the box-office gross. This in addition to a minimum $75 million "below the line" budget, meaning the studio would have to invest that much money before hiring any actors or a director, usually a film's biggest expenses. Also, all studios shown the script had just 24 hours to respond "yes" or "no," since Microsoft wanted the movie fast-tracked into production.<br /><br />According to Variety, Microsoft's tall order caused almost all major studios to pass on the project. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[cramic]

It better not have an ending like halo 2 the video game did, or I will........I will.......I'll......I will have to buy halo 3 when it comes out <hangs head in shame>

 

[quasar2]

i`d rather see a Ringworld than Halo film. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[wvbraun]

Me too.

 

[Saiph]

Halo is actually quite similar to ringworld in many aspects. <br /><br /><br />If they do a halo movie, I hope they fix the covenant's view point a bit. They seemed highly exclusionary and xenophobic (according to the manual and story line videos)...but were a coalition of many species....go figure.<br /><br />Halo 2 ended far to abruptly...they could have had at least another mission on the starship...ending up with a cliff hanger as the Master Chief looks out a window and realizes where the "ark" is....<br /><br /><br />spoiler?<br />My friends and I suspect the earth.<br /><br /><br />But it was/is fun still, and the gameplay itself is better than Halo IMO. But it's big problem was it just ended...no wrap up at <i>all</i>...and while I don't mine more questions being raised than answers...I want SOME answers. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p align="center"><font color="#c0c0c0"><br /></font></p><p align="center"><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">----</font></em></font><font color="#666699">SaiphMOD@gmail.com </font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">-------------------</font></em></font></p><p><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">"This is my Timey Wimey Detector.  Goes "bing" when there's stuff.  It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually.  I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- </font></em></font><font size="1" color="#999999">The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>