Halo Script Hawked To Studios

Gamespot has the story of Microsoft's crusade to sell the Halo movie script to a studio. They really went all out, apparently, with messengers dressed as Master Chief delivering the scripts to the major studios. From the article: "Whatever studio picks up the project would also have to relinquish 'strict control of development' to Halo developer Bungie Studios, who have written a 'bible' which any director and producer would have to follow. Variety's sources say the purpose of the 'bible' is 'to make sure any changes to the script don't alter the universe established in the first two Halo games that will continue in future sequels,' apparently further confirming Halo 3 is in the works."

Comments

Huh?

[Captain Splendid]

apparently further confirming Halo 3 is in the works

Sorry, I missed the bit where we're all under the assumption that Halo 3 might not be happening.

Re:Huh?

[nomadic]

A crisp twenty-dollar bill says Halo 3 is an FPS.

I bet it will be a text adventure.

You stand in a long corridor that runs north and south through the Covenant ship. Organic walls glisten wetly in the dim light, exuding an alien smell that assails your nostrils. To the east a large metallic door is set in the wall.

>i
You are carrying:
a plasma rifle
a shotgun
a fragmentation grenade

>look at door
The door is made of some strangely colored metallic substance. A red light set into the door indicates that it is probably locked.

>open door
The door is locked.

>unlock door
What do you wish to unlock the door with?

>plasma rifle
I'm sorry, I can't do that.

>n
The corridor branches here, heading east, west, and north. Far off in the distance you hear a dull roar and the sound of what appear to be explosions.
A sniper rifle is lying here.

>take rifle
You can't carry that much.

>drop shotgun
You drop the shotgun.

>take rifle
You pick up the sniper rifle.

Master Chief in Action

[SwornPacifist]

For those curious, here's a picture of one of the the Master Chief messengers

Re:UWE BOLL!

[PoderOmega]

The only movie this guy should be directing is a movie version of Daikatana

Re:Happy they're taking measures for continuity

[TheWanderingHermit]

First: I wish everyone would stop putting bible in quotation marks and, in this case, capitalizing it. It is actually a technical term in this case and is not referring to any scriptures of a particular relgigion. Any writer that develops a TV series creates a bible. If the intent is for a series of movies, or any series where there will be multiple scripts written by different people, a bible is a must. It describes the characters involved, the relationships between the characters, the standing sets, and, if it's a tech script, there will also be a tech guide, or tech bible that explains exactly what the different pieces of equipment can do, what their abilities are, and what the limitations are. When my agent first got the "go-ahead" that I'd be pitching to ST:TNG, within 2-3 days there were 2 Trek bibles on my doorstep as well as a stack of paper that was full of summaries of all previous episodes. One bible was the regular writer's guide (often called the series bible), the other was Okuda and Sternbach's tech bible. Even before I pitched to them, they wanted to be sure I had all the rules about the characters and gadgets right.

So, that having been said, I agree. Having a bible is a good thing. It will keep the, "That didn't work like that in the game," problems to a minimum. On the other hand, if the bible was written by gaming people, it could cause problems for a good writer who knows film and finds him or herself restricted by rules that force awkward or limited character development or create situations that don't play well in a 2 hour movie.

I'm only concerned with three things...

[MeanderingMind]

..which you all should also be concerned with.

1. The voice actor for MasterChief in the games voices him.
2. The voice actor for Cortana voices her.
3. Two words, Sergeant Johnson.

Because of his armor, having one actor do MasterChief's movements and another his voice would work, ala Darth Vader.

Since Cortana would probably be computer generated, again, no issue.

And Sergeant Johnson rocks.

Re:Happy they're taking measures for continuity

[Grab]

but it does help with creating a believable universe

Not really. Check the Matrix for a prime example. And note that good FX != believable.

Regarding LOTR, the actors were all relative unknowns at the time they were hired. All of them were good actors, yes (although Elijah Wood sadly still doesn't convince as Frodo - ho hum), but none of them were doing it for the money. In fact, none of the crew were doing it for the money at all. Watch the "making-of" bits on the extended DVDs and you'll see how personally committed they all were, and how much each group (actors and support, digital FX, model-makers, etc) really became a family. The sheer *closeness* of them all afterwards was unbelievable.

Personally I don't there's any other movie that could inspire that kind of commitment, or ever will again. The reason they all committed was bcos it *was* LOTR, not bcos they were being paid. LOTR was a one-off, and I can't see any here-today-gone-tomorrow computer game tie-in getting anywhere near. Certainly not just bcos some studio boss has splurged $10m for the rights.

Grab.