I have had a sour taste in my mouth ever since Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp’s Halo project was squashed. I can think of no other game property today more suited for a big screen adaptation than Halo. Yet here we are practically a decade after the insanely popular franchise debuted and not only is there no movie, but no signs of one moving into development.
Pirates of the Caribbean and GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra writer Stuart Beattie shares my frustration. In 2007, he scripted a Halo movie based on the “Fall of Reach” storyline from Eric Nyland’s Halo prequel novel while grounded during the writer’s strike. It was a project of passion for Beattie who, like millions of others, is an avid gaming and Halo fan.
Beattie has been busy of late promoting GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra and Sci Fi Wire did not hesitate to ask Beattie about his script and the Halo universe. “I just think it’s an amazing story about this child that no one cares about and who cares for no one else, who kind of ends up saving all of humanity,” Beattie said. “So I just started calling, because I really believe a Halo movie would just be awesome, especially this Halo movie.”
By “calling” he is referring to shopping his script around Hollywood. As of yet there are no takers, which may give Beattie time to refine his directing skills after his upcoming freshman effort, Tomorrow, When the War Began.
“It’s not something I can direct right now, because it’s a big $100 million-plus film,” Beattie offered. “Maybe in a few years, if things work with Tomorrow and if Tomorrow finds an audience, maybe one day, two or three movies later, I can get the reins of that and maybe direct that, because I would just love to see a Halo movie up there on screen. It’s magnificent.”
Beattie draws comparisons between Star Wars and Halo, two huge science fiction properties at the forefront of their generations. If a Halo franchise were launched properly, he could be right.
“It’s like our generation’s Star Wars,” Beattie proposed. “The whole Halo nation that’s out there, and a 100,000-year history of the Halo universe, it’s just breathtaking and so much fun to play in that sandbox. I’ve read every book, played every game, every graphic novel. It’s just a fun world to be in.”
Check out a piece of Beattie’s rough concept art below for an idea of how his Halo world might look.
What do you all think? Is it a crime that no one has been able to get a Halo project off the ground yet?
