Jackson Puts Halo on Ice

Microsoft and director Peter Jackson temporarily halt development on big-screen version of the popular videogame two weeks after Universal and 20th Century Fox unexpectedly pull financing

By Josh Grossberg Nov 01, 2006 9:06 PMTags

Rings are no problem for Peter Jackson. Halos, on the other hand...

The Lord of the Rings ringmaster and Microsoft have decided to postpone production on Halo, their sci-fi adventure flick based on the hit videogame series, two weeks after Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox unexpectedly pulled out of financing the project.

A statement from Microsoft said that the would-be blockbuster was being put on indefinite hiatus while the Oscar-winning filmmaker continued to search for new backing.

"While it will undoubtedly take a little longer for Halo to reach the big screen, we are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait," the Redmond, Washington-based software company said, while declining additional comment.

The film had been slated for release in summer 2008. Universal and Fox generated big buzz in the summer of 2005, when they announced a deal with the Kiwi auteur to develop the Halo property into a feature film franchise.

According to the agreement, the studios were obliged to pony up a $5 million advance for the film rights by Oct. 15. However, on the eve of the deadline amid unconfirmed reports that Halo's approved $145 million budget was fast approaching $200 million, a jittery Universal, acting on behalf of both studios, asked Jackson to take a pay cut. When he balked, the studios walked.

A rep for Jackson's WingNut Films told the New Zealand Herald that Universal and Fox tried to renegotiate the terms of the deal at the last minute, and their abrupt decision to back out took the director by surprise.

"We've been working on the film for a year...We've been working on research and development," the spokesman said. "With a film like this, you spend a lot of time on conceptual art and a lot of drawings."

Jackson, along with partner Fran Walsh, is still set to executive produce the Halo flick. Jackson had hired 27-year-old protégé Neill Blomkamp to make his directing debut, from a script by 28 Days Later scribe Alex Garland. Blomkamp is still attached to the project, even though Universal and Fox reportedly had reservations about him taking on such a massive endeavor.

Several other members of the preproduction staff weren't so lucky, getting laid off following the studio retreat. But the WingNut spokesman indicated the workers would be rehired once new funds were found.

"We're disappointed...but that's the nature of the film industry," the rep noted, adding that Jackson has plenty of additional projects to keep himself busy.

Those include his next directorial effort, a feature adaptation of Alice Sebold's bestselling The Lovely Bones, and two epics he's producing—an effects-heavy remake of the World War II aerial battle drama Dambusters, which will be distributed by Universal, and Temeraire, a series of fantasy novels he recently optioned about dragons in the Napoleonic Wars. And, once MGM sorts out the screen rights, he's also expressed a desire to return to Middle Earth and make The Hobbit.

No word how the delay will affect work on the all-new Halo videogame Jackson is working on with Bungie Studios. That title, a follow-up to the forthcoming Halo 3, had been slated to coincide with the Halo movie release.

Meanwhile, Jackson's newly created WingNut Interactive division is joining forces with Microsoft Game Studios on a wholly original videogame property for the Xbox 360.