Want some information on the reasons why Bungie went for the deal they did, hiring their own script writer and taking it to Hollywood? Seems like it wasn’t always that way.
Back then the plan was to license the Halo universe lock, stock and barrel with no guaranteed Bungie collaboration…. 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.
Over at Bungie they’re talking about the history of how they got to where they are, and some talk of the new script.
How did that draft turn out? Let me put it this way: I wrote the script for both Halo games, but as Alex’s interpretation rumbled from one climax to the next I found myself wondering (sometimes aloud): “Damn! How’s the Chief gonna fight his way outta this?!” Only to follow-up a few pages later with: “Oh man, I can’t wait to see that on screen!” Good stuff. And it kept getting better with each successive draft.
It includes a couple of quotes from Garland himself, and a lot of reassurances that they are worrying over the script and movie adaptation but for the right reasons. They want to retain control to make sure it’s done right, and not like many of the other videogame adaptations. Not wrong like this three panel comic that shows what they really don’t want!
They give two reasons why this is going to work out well…
First, our community team…assembled an exhaustive “companion” that will accompany the script during the film’s production…to inspire and inform the filmmakers as well as serve as a point-of-reference for all parties in the event of creative disagreements…Here’s one of the companion’s reference pages. Imagine this level of specificity for every character, weapon, vehicle, environment – you name it – in the known Halo universe. That’s a lot of inspirational and argument-settling goodness.
Second, over the next month or so Peter Schlessel (who’s signed on as Producer), Parsons and I will be meeting with potential directors, and picking the best person for the job. I recently saw a list of “available and interested” candidates, and trust me: it’s an embarrassment of riches.
Definitely sounds interesting, read the whole story over at the Bungie news page through dtheatre.
How do you fans feel now?
Halo is going to be the bestest movie and idea they ever came up with.I’d like to see the movie when it comes out.The guy that made Lord Of The Rings is, I think he is the director of the film, Halo. I like Halo 1, Halo 2 and i’d really like for Halo 3 to come out baddly. I think Halo 3 is going to rock, but there is one reason I don’t want Halo3, Halo2, and Halo to come for PS3. Why is the Bungie company going to give or sell their best top selling games to PS3. Let it come out for XBOX,XBOX 360 and any XBOX systems only. If you are reading this you are wondering why I hate Playstation so much is that people think that Playstation is better than XBOX. I meen in XBOX you can save tons of music and you don’t need to waste money buying memory cards for Playstation 1,2,and PSP. Halo is the best game they ever made including Halo 1,2 and especially Halo 3 wich is going to come out May 2005 or 2006.Thats all folks.
You guys should show previews of it in T.V. pretty soon.
“prequel”…………. “on television”
U are definately NOT a Halo fan are u,
If u are talking about one of those TV movie event things, then i think that is a horrible idea. Those TV Movies are shit…. Budget = shit, Actors = shit. That in itself would shame the Halo sarga completely, i’m not dissin’ u Tony but the idea is flawed….. why do anything on TV when u can do it in the actual movie and make use of the movies budget and not to mention that the movie will then be longer in length and more forfilling.
This movie is gunna be fantastic people…. and it is about time Game Developers had a say in the creative process in the Game-to-Movie genre.
I think the director in this movie will be the key…. they need to get a director who not only is familiar with the Halo plot BUT a director who ACTUALLY plays the games and loves em’!!!
I really like the idea of a halo movie.
and i thing they should do somekind of prequel on the television to show use what exactly happened bettwn the humans and covenent.
You are right CD, the director is going to play a big part in how well the movie is delivered…but the good thing, as I previously stated, is that Bungie is sticking with the process to ensure that the story does not get tarnished or that Hollywood decides to add its own flavor and story to the movie which is usually why most of these type of movies fail. Like you said, take a look at Doom, they dropped the main premise of the story…hell and demons to try to be politcally correct…WHY…just make the damn movie like its supposed to be made. Halo is going to be huge because there is so much story to tell…if they were smart, they would stay away from the story line already created in the games and give us something fresh…however, that being said, it would be pretty freaken cool to see a covenant armada come out of slipstream into Earths atmosphere. In my opinion, the 3 best directors for this movie would be Ridley Scott, James Cameraon, or someone who is an expert with CGI effects…Robert Rodriguez and the Wachowski Brothers. Now I dont know how likey it is that any of them would even consider doing it, but each has put out really great movies as well as visual stunners.
Meh.
I really liked what Alex Garland did with 28 Days Later — a nice reimagining and homage to zombie films.
But Halo’s going to be a different beast. Being faithful to the source material isn’t a recipe for a good movie. I think knowing who the director is might be a lot more telling as to the direction this film is going to take. Say it’s someone like Guillermo del Toro — that would tell me they’re serious about making a quality film. If it’s Paul W.S. Anderson or some guy who’s kind of a journeyman director, then that’s a different story.
The one problem that a lot of sci-fi movies seem to run into is they’re merely imitative of James Cameron’s Aliens. That movie is the benchmark. Take a look at the trailer for Doom. It’s obviously wants to be Aliens.
Im druling as im writing this…Everything is going as I hoped it would… Now all they have left to do to reasure me that this movie will not be just for a quick buck, is tosend Mr.Boll a letter telling him to stay 500kilometre’s away from anything halo related….
Hopefully Hitman,RainBow Six and Splinter Cell will be given this much care.
Wow…I humbly retract all my previous statements on former blogs about Hollywood destroying this movie. This is definately a breath of fresh air for all of us Halo fans. This pretty much guarantees that the movie is going to be a blockbuster in its own right. Its good to hear that a studio is finally taking a stand and is not going to settle for some half ass movie adaptation Hollywood just wants to put out for a buck…if we’re lucky, some other studios may take this example and run with it and we may see the end of pitiful comic/video game adaptations. This movie could be a trend setter for this genre and we may be looking at a revolution…hey, I can dream right!!! Bungie is doing the right thing and we are definately going to be impressed.