Fox And Universal Say Goodbye To Halo Movie

Master_of_Tumbleweeds writes "20th Century and Universal Pictures, the two studios that agreed to co-finance the film adaptation of Microsoft's Halo video game, have abruptly pulled out of the project. This leaves executive producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh without financing or distribution. A ballooning budget (rumored to have been closing in on the $200 Mil mark) and apparent lack of confidence in rookie feature film director Neill Blomkamp are being named the major culprits for Fox and Universal's decision."

Odd

[otacon]

Seems like an odd choice considering Peter Jackson's track record with making money (LoTR, King Kong) and the popularity of Halo.

Recipe For Failure

[Jekler]

Trying to turn a game into a movie is destined to fail. Very few games are ever thought-out fully to the extent necessary for a complete story to be composed that will satisfy the masses. They're usually thought-out to the extent that a gamer in the mindset of "Whatever... what's next?" wants to comprehend.

When you turn a game into a movie, the person watching isn't just waiting to get to the next level/area/mission, they might actually be interested in what's going on.

That sucks.

[Skudd]

A lot of people would argue that turning a video game into a movie on the big screen isn't a good idea. I, however, feel as though the Halo storyline (at least from Halo #1) is adequate for a very impressive film.

I was looking forward to the release of the movie, and actually had intention to see it in the theaters. I guess that's a far-fetched idea, now.

Am I the only one with confidence

[The-Bus]

Was I the only one who was thoroughly impressed with Mr. Blomkamp's short film Alive in Joburg [google.com]? I thought it was a nice mix of sci-fi and realism and would love to see more movies blending that style.

Now, a budget of $200 million is a lot for any movie. Jackson's King Kong barely broke even, so he doesn't exactly have a perfect track record.

But, let's use some crazy gorilla math. Alive in Joburg is about 6 minutes long. Make it 90 or 120 minutes long, and you've got twenty times the budget. (Mind you, I'm using crazy gorilla math). I don't think that short film cost $10 million. Hell, I doubt it even cost $200,000. I think if they worked on a budget first (say, $75 million), and then worked backwards from there, they can still have a great product.

Just don't make the movie three hours long. Please.

i have to disagree with you somewhat.

[adam]

Video game movies do not always do well.. but they don't, "always do poorly," as you've stated. Sure, Doom barely broke even after dvd/vhs rental (yet they're making a second [last I heard].. so that says something). But Tomb Raider grossed $131M in the US alone, with another $60M in rental market (plus foreign box office, merchandising, etc). With a production budget of $80M, that's a nifty return. I do agree with you though, the $141M budget that the article quotes is quite excessive for the genre. When examining whether it will be profitable you have to look at many things, and just being a video game movie isn't enough to doom you (no pun intended) to failure.

If you look at the current trend, it seems that video game movies are getting pretty popular. Comic book movies have become insanely popular in the last 5-8 yrs and it seems to me virtually anything comic book related at all gets automatic greenlight nowadays (GHOST RIDER? I'd never even heard of this comic before I saw the trailer-- granted, i am not a comic fan, but certainly part of the draw of comic movies is a base association with a variety of users beyond just hardcore fans). Anyway, I digress, my point is simply, maybe executives are seeing some possibilities/trends in video game movies, --at least this is my conclusion based off the number that are slated for production currently..

the list below was shamelessly poached from a wikipedia list i found, and then edited to remove probably 10-15 video games i don't recognize [see last paragraph for my reasoning behind this]

* Castlevania (2007)
* Doom 2 (TBA)
* Driver (2006)
* Duke Nukem: The Movie (TBA)
* Far Cry (2008)
* Halo (2008)
* Max Payne (2007)
* MechWarrior (TBA)
* Metal Gear Solid (2008)
* Metroid (2006)
* Mortal Kombat: Devastation (2007)
* Pac-Man (2007)
* Perfect Dark (2008)
* Quake (TBA)
* Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
* Resident Evil 4 (2007)
* Return to Castle Wolfenstein (TBA)
* Splinter Cell (2006)
* Tekken (2007)
* Tomb Raider III (TBA)
* Untitled WarCraft Project (2008)

So, anyway, for the most part, I agree with you.. they have their work cut out for them, but I believe is the storyline does its own thing (And doesn't stick too much to the exact game), with Jackson behind it, it could do quite well.

Also, as an aside, I have you "friended" on /., and do thoroughly enjoy reading most of your comments. This is the first time i've had the chance to reply to a "friend," since I mostly lurk (and generally only post in articles relating to digital cinema, or film stuff.. since that is what I do). Keep up the good comments ;)

So much for a game movie that doesn't suck

[Anonymous Coward]

Rats. I'd sort of figured that Halo stood a chance of being the "First computer game to movie adaptation that didn't completely stink". It's got a workable story and good characters, at least by sci-fi/action movie standards.

Oh well, life goes on. I suppose what I'd really like to see instead of a Halo movie would be a movie based on Marathon. It's got massive colony ships, heroic cyborgs, unknown hostile aliens, and an insane AI. What more do you want?

Re:I'd call this a smart move.

[ErroneousBee]

In fact, that's why no company anywhere gears their advertising towards teens.

Have a critical look at adverts, and you'll find very few adverts aimed at teens, simply because they are not naive enough to want something just cos its on telly, but not rich enough to support more sophisticated or mass marketing. There are exceptions to this when the market is dominated by teens (used to be soda pop, and is now phones+iPods), but look at banks, clothes, toys, food, etc and you dont see any serious attempt to directly advertise to the 15-18 markets, its all indirect and non-age specific brand building.

Teens are too easily swayed by peer pressure. If you build a quality product, its still too random whether they will decide on you product or not.

Re:I don't agree!!

[BewireNomali]

I don't remember an instance where a director without a widely released feature was giventhis amount of money to direct a film. It's a coup for him, but investors run from that.

directors are to film what executives are to corporations. For the most part - they impart a vision, manage the process, and assemble an exemplary team for the various departments. having peter jackson behind him mitigates risk, and assures that the teams involved will be top notch. but if the director doesn't inspire confidence - then the trickle-down is obvious.

i'm surprised they hung around this long. in my experience, private investors would not have risked 10 million on a first time feature director. i say this being an analyst who analyzes film properties for private investors.

The flags:

-known property (previously widely released IP - or one of several profitable genres: horror, black/urban, youth comedy; the foregoing are the most profitable genres of feature film).
-attached talent (A-list, etc/respective to the genre).
-director's track record (box office/public perception).
-budget.

It should be understood that the feature film industry is about making movies with other people's money. So whoever these studios are dealing with probably just weren't satisfied with the guy to dole out that kind of cash. I don't blame them.

Sci-fi films mitigate risk by using the Japanese market as a buffer; american sci-fi films tend to do well there. in this instance though - because of the cultural backlash in Japan over the X-Box business itself - there is a risk of not being able to monetize this market and this is a huge risk of exposure, especially because data indicates a slight contraction of the US moviegoing audience.

Overall, this would be a strong pass, especially considering the track record for game movies.

I do however, think this film is going to do very well. I just couldn't advise anyone to get in at these prices.

Bungie should Update their FAQ

[tb3]

Go to the Halo FAQ page [bungie.net] and scroll down to the question:

I read there is going to be a big-budget Hollywood movie of Halo starring Vin Diesel as the Master Chief and a porn star as the voice of Cortana. When should I start lining up outside my local theater?

And here's their answer:

You shouldn't. Lots of people have come around trying to get the rights to make a Halo movie, but Bungie has not sold the movie rights to anyone. (And yes, it IS Bungie's decision.) There are lots of bad movies based on video games, and we don't want Halo to meet the same fate.

Obviously, Microsoft greed trumps Bungie integrity.

msoft haters??

[benicillin]

folks dont seem to understand that halo has one of the best storylines ever written for a game. everyone keeps saying you dont have much luck turning a game into a movie - but that is not the case here. halo has a very well written story behind it. the only comment i can agree with is that the game has so much story and movie cut-scenes included in it, this movie might actually be redundant. however, i'm sure a movie will have a lot more to offer than just cut-scenes and i think this is a sure fire deal and they would be foolish to stop production. im surprised that more /. readers don't already know this - halo IS, of course, a geek thing almost as much as WoW or any other geek game. is it the microsoft affiliation that turned you all off?

Re:I'd call this a smart move.

[Anonymous Coward]

It'll still happen:

1) The article currently referenced indicates a $145M budget, which is still high but not quite as outrageous.
2) Peter Jackson is still on board and they are looking at other studios.
3) There's a company sitting on $31B cash that really wants to see this movie made and do well. Even if they have to bite the bullet a little more in negotiations with the next studios.