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Halo Movie Deal Moves Closer
Universal and Fox are apparently close to coming up with a deal Microsoft is happy with for the in-the-works Halo film. Gamespot reports that the two movie studios will cofinance the hugely expensive movie title. From the article: "while Universal and Fox's offer is now the only game in town, Microsoft is still unsure if it wants to play ball. Variety and the Times say the agreement is held up on two fronts. First, the two studios requested that Microsoft relinquish its demands and that the Halo movie strictly follow a Bungie-penned "bible," which would ensure that it would not deviate from the Halo mythos or conflict with "sequels" to the game (i.e. Halo 3). The second reported sticking point was Microsoft's insistence that principal shooting begin as soon as possible, possibly as early as this fall."
So it's still a tangled mess that may or may not happen? How is that closer?
e2 | LJ
... are all jumping into the movie scene after Mel Gibson's movie. When will it end?
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
after all the vast majority of movies based on video games haven't been all that great, so i'm doubtful this one would be much better if it ever gets off the ground...
Does anyone else see this movie as a $75Mil+ Halo3 commercial meant almost solely to steal thunder from the PS3 and Rev's launches?
Am I the only one who finds that abso-fucking-lutely rediculous?
not give in to the studios, Bungies bible is probably the only thing keeping a Halo movie from being made into a huge piece of crap. Game movies flop usually becase they deviate too far from the games storyline and universe. IE not using the same main characters, or changing the main characters, or completely changing the "topic" of the movie. If microsoft does one thing right it should be making sure that bungie gets the final say in how the movie plays out.
The GameSpot article has a factual error as a result of a typo:
g ory=0&id=31144
First, the two studios requested that Microsoft relinquish its demands and that the Halo movie strictly follow a Bungie-penned "bible,"
The "bible" demand comes from Microsoft, not from the studios. One reference: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.php?cate
Think about it, there are tons of gamers salivating over this film I'm sure. But what is going to happen when reviews, leaked scripts, etc start coming out and they find that perhaps major parts of the story they know and love have been changed, and - given the studios' track records - probably for the worse? They're going to snub the film, that's what. Maybe not enough to make it tank, but probably a sizable number will choose to wait for the DVD, or not see it all. We geeks are extremely pedantic, we love details, it's what we do. Mucking about with 'our' culture is only insulting to us, and we recognize and resent it.
I know it takes more than just the /. crowd to make money for a film, and we do overinflate our importance, after all you need the public at large to like the film as well to be truly successful. But I think that with Halo, being as well defined and straightforward a story/universe as it is, there shouldn't be any need to alter it to dumb it down (or up) for the masses. Hollywood just wants to maintain its monopoly of culture and cater to the lowest common denominator. To paraphrase Chris Rock in another bad movie: 'We [the studios] tried that, and we got damn rich doing it. But maybe now it's time to try a different way.' After all what's the worse that could happen? It's not like the Bungie version of the film could be any worse than the Mario Bros Movie. Right? God I hope not.
* re: hundreds of thousands of fans - I have no idea what the number is but it's got to be big. maybe millions? I dunno, I just pulled a number out of my butt, let it go already.
-- I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. It's not my fault that life sucks so much. --
At this point, if Microsoft is so confident that the movie would succeed should it be made, why don't they just open their own studio and make it themselves? If Halo: The Movie does do well, who knows what other Microsoft franchises might get sent to the big screen?
Flight Simulator: in IMAX 3D!
Microsoft always wants to rush everything and only ends up with a crappy product in the end. I hope whatever company decides to make the film takes their time and makes it worth seeing.
In unrelated news, I bet that if the said company does take their time and gets it out in 2007, it will still potentially beat a Microsoft Longhorn launch date.
This Summer... PowerPoint: The Movie
Because that worked out soooo well for Square.
The Braying and Neighing of Barnyard Animals Follows.
Voice-over: Just when you thought it was safe to use MS Word...
Clippy: So, it looks like you're writing a letter...
Voice-over: This summer, experience the terror of the The Office "Assistant"!
e2 | LJ
I posted this in the last thread about the Halo movie:
7 53829
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=151990&cid=12
And it's always nice to be right about something, since they've only got one offer on the table, and that offer comes with the predicted we're-not-going-to-follow-your-bible clause. If they want principle photography to start this fall, they should hire a production team and just do it. Of course, if they want a good movie, then they'll wait and do it right.
This is exactly what i thought. Microsoft is asking for a 75 million dollar budget, minimum, for this movie. Last i checked, doesn't Microsoft make that in about a day?
i'm sure they could eat the cost of production for the movie, and then easily get someone to distribute it.
If they consult Red vs. Blue for the script...
"A wolf's eyes can see into your soul"
My writing
or *I* won't be watching it.
Best. Comment. Ever. Enjoy!
The average action movie has something like 20 weeks of preproduction these days. Sci Fi is more (you can't even hope to shoot on location). The script probably has to be tossed. I hated 28 Days Later! Garland is not the best choice to script it, Dan O'Bannon would have been better.
As for the writer's bible, these are fairly common... on TV. The movies are a whole other game.
I also wonder why M$ didn't buy out a small studio, or build one. They could (would) have shot it on spec if they really believed in the project. My guess is that they just want to use this as lead in advertising for Halo 3. They don't expect the movie to do better than break even, if that.
I may be wrong, but I think the Studios are concerned that MicroSoft will leave them high and dry.
that Microsoft relinquish its demands and that the Halo movie strictly follow a Bungie-penned "bible,"
Is the word "and" in that clause supposed to be there?
"not really. i see it the same as the final fantasy movie. intersting story and state-of-the-art cg."
Have you ever listened to the commentary tracks for Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within?
The animation team spends the entire session badmouthing the studio for rewriting the script 20 to 30 times, forcing them to constantly rework the sequences, drop them, add them, pick up dropped ones, etc (case in point, the opening opening sequence was one of the first ones created (Aki floating in her craft), the director/writer decided to drop it, only to come back later and just the very same one they originally disliked). They pretty well lambasted the fact that what had started as a solid, original idea, quickly devolved in to Hollywood tripe that made no damn sense.
At the same time, the producer/writer commentary is praising it as a technical marvel, and barely glosses over the fact that they effed the story up beyond any recognizable comprehension, and only barely attempt to explain how the movie has *anything* in common with the games beyond Cyd and the notion of a planet as a living being...
That's some funny stuff, when taken together. I never though the story was awful, but I can certainly see that they could have made a more concerted effort to have it be compelling and cohesive, rahter than just 'high concept'.
"How like you to drag your keyboard to a gun fight." - Aaron Bedard (BANE)
You could get that guy who does all the intros for movies on this as well for extra fun. "In a world..."
Jonathanjk.com
Knowing how faithful these conversions tend to be, Clippy would probably replaced with the M.U.L.E., not that it would make a difference.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
Am I the only one who finds this to be absolutely ridiculous.
I mean really... filming a multimillion dollar movie about a game that's a mindless fps. I've read stories that "hollywood wants metroid", etc. Let's not forget about previous attempts like "Resident Evil", "Final Fantasy", "Street Fighter", and "Super Mario Bros."--Wait a minute; it's starting to make sense to me.
Here's how it is:
Microsoft is using this as a marketing ploy, and the movie's going to be wretched. I don't care what any of you Bungie-Fanboys say Halo is a shit-fer game with a shit-fer story and a shit-fer play style. Following this same tradition, Halo: the Movie is going to be a shit-fer movie that's nothing than a waste of my two hours.
Halo (the game) is a complete waste of my time. I won't argue in its favor--unless you count its perdy graphics (big whoop).
The movie is going to be just as big of a flaming pile of dogshit.
I just want all of you (Halo advocates) to know that you are the reason Microsoft's got a friggin' monopoly. You people are the reason that Windows still sucks. You people are the reason they're muscling their way into the video game business.
Its stupid, gullible people like you who buy Windows RG Third Edition with Service Pack 2 even though its the same crap that was released 10 years ago. You people are the ones who bought Halo 2 despite the lack of any quality innovation. Oh yay! Look my gun is a bigger gun than the last game. I have a (Dr. Evil Voice) "Laserbeam". You people are the reason musicians like Creed, Staind, and anything off of American Idol get record contracts. Its stupid people like you who feed this lowsy corporate world a falsified need to tell you what you like!
Fine! Its your brainless life. Go ahead. Buy Halo 2. Go ahead. Buy the new Good Charlotte album, play anything EA makes, watch the Halo movie, devote yourself to mindless self-indulgence. Its your money. Really. Go ahead, Troll Me! Mod me down. I dare you.
Deja Vu
n. 1. The sensation that you've read this very article before.
Funny you should say that... my last job was at a talent agency, and I used to work with some of those guys. (The guy you are thinking of is Ashton Smith, he also does all the NBC promos, or maybe Don La Fontaine, who did a lot of work in the 90's, and now does a lot fo Fox promos).
Those Movie Trailer guys make between $1,200 and $2,000 for a 15 minute session. I once saw a guy make my salary in 24 hours....