Hollywood screenwriter, Stuart Beattie, who was responsible for Gears of War screenplay for New Line Cinema last year, has written the new Halo script. Word says that Microsoft like it and that they are discussing possible plans for it to be made.
Bettie beleives the old style Halo movie incaration is dead and is ready to release his vision, Halo: The Fall of Reach, a prequel to the first game. John Gaudiosi finds out what this vision is, in his interview for game daily. See the full transcript below.
And thanks to Blair Allan for sending us this news.
GameDaily BIZ: One of the big riffs about Halo early on from Hollywood producers I’ve spoken with was that the movie borrowed too much from Aliens…
Stuart Beattie: So? There’s a whole school of thought that says, “Brilliant!” (Laughs)
BIZ: Why do you think Microsoft wasn’t able to get this movie off the ground with Peter Jackson attached and 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures on board?
SB: I wasn’t involved so I don’t know specifically why it fell apart, but I do know Hollywood is a numbers game. There’s certainly going to be an interest in a huge IP like Halo, but there’s going to be a point where the numbers just don’t add up any more. From what I had read, the budget kept going higher and higher and all of the back-ends were going to everyone but the people who were putting up the money to make the movie. And it just got to the breaking point because it was no longer fiscally responsible to make. These movies are a business.
“The audience is trying to figure out everything at the same time as the characters are. What are these aliens? Why are they killing us? What did we do? And realizing it’s all about this Halo ring. And then ending the movie where the first game begins.”
BIZ: Where does your Halo movie fit in with everything?
SB: The Halo movie in its initial incarnation is dead. No one is pursuing it any more. When the writers guild strike hit last year I suddenly had three months to write a Halo script. I always had this vision of doing Halo: The Fall of Reach, which is a prequel to the first game. It sets up a world 500 years in the future and we have colonies, there’s the UNSC, there’s the secret Spartan training program. And you see this six-year-old kid kidnapped in the middle of the night.
BIZ: And where does Master Chief fit into all of this?
SB: The character doesn’t start off as Master Chief. He starts off as John, who’s the kid that’s kidnapped and told he’s going to be a soldier. Anyone can connect with a kid kidnapped from his own home. You’re along for that journey. The Covenant comes along halfway through that movie. That gives you half the movie to really get to know everyone and care about everyone. And then when the Covenant come along, it’s the first time John sees a grunt or a jackal or an elite. The audience is trying to figure out everything at the same time as the characters are. What are these aliens? Why are they killing us? What did we do? And realizing it’s all about this Halo ring. And then ending the movie where the first game begins.
BIZ: What do you think gamers, who’ve been waiting a long time for a Halo movie, will get from your adaptation?
SB: I’ve been waiting a long time, too, as a fan. For fans, it will give a whole new perspective that they’ve never had before. And for non-fans it will introduce a whole new world, a time and a place with interesting characters. They can get into that and then they can go play the games because they know the whole backstory.
BIZ: You’ve talked about John getting kidnapped as a kid and a lot of peaceful time before the attacks. How much action is in your story?
SB: As a Halo fan what I want to see in a Halo movie is Master Chief kicking alien butt and we have plenty of that. But we’ve also got this great story that goes along with it. I always thought that was the way a Halo story should be so when I got time during the strike I decided to put my money where my mouth was. I did a bunch of concept art and boards and animatics. I did a presentation package and contacted Microsoft and Bungie. Joe Statton at Bungie (director of cinematics and writer of the three games) read it and loved it. I wasn’t part of the previous incarnation so I don’t know what they did with that script. But the book they commissioned, Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nyland was a fantastic book.
BIZ: What’s the next step, now that you have a completed script?
SB: We’re now in discussions with Microsoft to see if we can get this made. I’m just a fan and I desperately want to see a Halo movie out there.
BIZ: Are you a go-to guy now in Hollywood for game adaptations?
SB: I get sent a lot of games. I’ve been sent games before that I don’t like and that I’ve turned down because I’m not the right guy for that job. That’s not going to be a good adaptation. You need to love the game. If I haven’t played the game, I say, “Can you give me a year?” I can’t just adapt a game for a film unless I’ve played it and liked it.
BIZ: And you obviously have that passion for the Halo games, right?
SB: At the end of the day you have to really be inspired. It can’t just be a story from the game. Once you go and make the movie that’s two years of your life and you have to be invested in the story. You gotta know you have the right story. I suspect (with the original Halo movie) they didn’t fully have the right story. They had three or four writers on it and that’s usually a sign that they didn’t have a story and they kept going around in circles.
BIZ: Thanks for your time. We hope your film gets made.
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Comments 31 Responses to “Stuart Beattie in talks with Microsoft to get his new screenplay put into action”
We all hope your film gets made…
there are so many people who wants to watch the movie plz make it =)
Can’t Wait To See The Results Of This, But I Also Hope That Your Script Also Involved The Other Spartan’s And Tie ABit In Wiht The Book Fall of Reach Bringing In The Other Spartans such as Spartan-0119, and all the others.
Sorry Correction Spartan-051(Kurt-051)
PLEASE PLEASE MAKE THIS MOVIE PLEASE I HOPE THAT GOING TO BE OF THE FALL OF REACH BECAUSE ALL PEPOLE WANTS TO SE BEHIND OF HALO 1 I MEAN FALL OF REACH
rahulspartan on 10/8/2008 3:03 am | 414 seconds to edit
I think steve downes must dub whoever becomes chief, cuz i love the original master chief voice over. And I hope Mr. Stuart Beattie doesn’t get any detail wrong, since halo story has already been crumpled up by so many different writers who are willing to write only the way they take halo universe to be and that mismatches alot of details, though I hope SB have taken up the eric nylund’s point of view, and has not altered the original halo fall of reach novel in any way.
I think steve downes shall dub whoever becomes chief, cuz i love the original master chief voice over.
And I hope Mr. Stuart Beattie doesn’t get any detail wrong, since halo story has already been crumpled up by so many different writers who are willing to write only the way they take halo universe to be and that mismatches alot of details, though I hope SB have taken up the eric nylund’s point of view, and has not altered the original halo fall of reach novel in any way. Modify Comment Cancel
oops sorry for doubling the last post
[...] and poop… all at the same time!!!! Here’s some sweet news from my halo source over at halo.moviechronicles: Hollywood screenwriter, Stuart Beattie, who was responsible for Gears of War screenplay for New [...]
If this movie is made and is a success, they may continue on to do the original Halo series.
Finnaly a hope for a halo movie! We have been waiting since 2005 or more! If this movie has the flood in it, it will be the best movie ive ever seen. But if not it will still be super awsome.
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PLEASE MAKE THAT MOVIE
And never show Master Chief face (as an adult). Keep some mystery, and use some of the original game soundtrack music in the movie. Its awesome!
If people are scared that fall of reach won’t cover enough backstory on the halo series, than just use the adaptation of contact harvest to created the covenant backstory.
This movie absolutely cannot be rated PG-13…that would make it terrible. Terrible. It must be a WAR MOVIE. Not some sci-fi Starship Troopers crap, or uninteresting characters of the Alien movies…it must be R. It must be violent.
The games or Rated M for a reason. Let’s see some Black Hawk Down/Saving Private Ryan action set in the future.
YES R ONLY!!!
Everyones with me on this one i know. Whoever can make this movie happen should DO IT!!!! we have all waited too long for a halo movie to be made!!!! come on microsoft and bungie its time you shut all us fans up and make this movie happen!!!!
I still can remember the day 3 or 4 years ago when i played first halo . i downloaded all wallpapers, intros… and i finded out that theres film in production. now 4 years later im still waiting but im a little disapointed. SO PLEASE MAKE THAT MOVIE.
This is absolutely amazing! When I heard they were making a Halo movie I almost peed myself. Talk about best movie ever created! At least it will be, if they stay true to the original plot and have TONS of action and crazy sweet graphics, then it should be an awesome movie. Although, I thought Eragon was gonna be a gr8 movie cuz the book was gr8, but nope. The writers screwed it up. Stewart Beattie we’re COUNTING on you. PLEASE DON’T DISAPPOINT! If the first one takes off, the others will follow. I’m hoping for a fall 2010/spring 2011 release date. Any sooner and it probably will have been rushed. Again, please, please do this movie right!
This is absolutely amazing! When I heard they were making a Halo movie I almost peed myself. Talk about best movie ever created! At least it will be, if they stay true to the original plot and have TONS of action and crazy sweet graphics, then it should be an awesome movie. Although, I thought Eragon was gonna be a gr8 movie cuz the book was gr8, but nope. The writers screwed it up. Stewart Beattie we’re COUNTING on you. PLEASE DON’T DISAPPOINT! If the first one takes off, the others will follow. I’m hoping for a fall 2010/spring 2011 release date. Any sooner and it probably will have been rushed. Again, please, please do this movie right!
This is absolutely amazing! When I heard they were making a Halo movie I almost peed myself. Talk about best movie ever created! At least it will be, if they stay true to the original plot and have TONS of action and crazy sweet graphics, then it should be an awesome movie. Although, I thought Eragon was gonna be a gr8 movie cuz the book was gr8, but nope. The writers screwed it up. Stewart Beattie we’re COUNTING on you. PLEASE DON’T DISAPPOINT! If the first one takes off, the others will follow. I’m hoping for a fall 2010/spring 2011 release date. Any sooner and it probably will have been rushed. Again, please, please do this movie right!
“This movie absolutely cannot be rated PG-13…that would make it terrible. Terrible. It must be a WAR MOVIE. Not some sci-fi Starship Troopers crap, or uninteresting characters of the Alien movies…it must be R. It must be violent. ”
I disagree that violence must be at the center of the movie.
What we need is a great movie, with a great story, characters, and script. Of course we need the intense and violent action, but to turn Halo into a gore fest would be stupid, cause its much more than that. Check the new Batman movies, they are not that violent and they are really good. Some things are better left unseen and unsaid.
I really really really want this to come out. I want to see Halo made into a movie-its story is too good. If it comes out, I’ll probably go into a coma of happiness.
I think that i speak for all halo fans when i say “good luck dawg, and for god sakes dont F*** it up”
“I disagree that violence must be at the center of the movie.
What we need is a great movie, with a great story, characters, and script. Of course we need the intense and violent action, but to turn Halo into a gore fest would be stupid, cause its much more than that. Check the new Batman movies, they are not that violent and they are really good. Some things are better left unseen and unsaid.”
Well it still needs to be R. And i also think that the story needs to be deep and good. But when it comes to the fighting… MAAAAN! Halo is war, war is grim.
The only way this would be a good movie is if it fully follows Nylund’s book that it is based on. There’s always adaptations for film but it has to keep the characters the same and the key moments of the book. The story of John and his luck. The training of the kids. The team building exercises. The training. That’s what people really identify in the book. The possibility that anyone of us could have been the child chosen to become a super soldier. Showing those things it was gives it a human relatable element.
Nylund’s book, The Fall of Reach, is the reason I played the Halo games and couldn’t wait to play each new one. And The Flood was boring. We played through the whole book in the first game. Why do we care about some retelling of it. Only reason to read it was to hear about the other stuff that was happening simultaneous with what we were doing in the game. And that wasn’t that interesting. First Strike was great also. Nylund is the key. If you collaborate with him your movie will be gold because his vision of the Halo Universe is golden!
I believe Chris has hit a very important point here. The Halo paperback series was made great by Eric Nylund. The other author’s interpretation of the Halo universe fell short, was not descriptive enough, and just didn’t involve me the way Nylunds writing did. He truly “gets” it when it comes to the depth and sheer scope of the Halo Universe. He brings you along for his journey with a feeling of living it in the present and you can’t help but keep reading. I think a collaboration between Stuart’s vision and Nylund’s vision would yield the most beneficial adaptation onto the big screen that we, as fans, could hope for. Either way though, I’m excited to see this finally move toward the purchase of a pair of movie tickets to go and see Halo!
Please never show the Chief’s face.
Except when he’s a kid, that’s ok if they show how he looks on Reach. But as an adult, keep it secret.
PLEASE MAKE THE FREAKIN’ MOVIE ALREADY!!! STUART BEATTIE, YOU ARE A GENIUS AND I BELIEVE YOUR SCRIPT IS AWESOME! BUT BUNGIE DOESNT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING WITH THE MOVIE, AND I DONT TRUST THEM!!!! Hope fully they are smart enough to go along with Beatie’s script…
Ok, Feb, what is wrong with showing Master Chief’s face? He is ownage nevertheless, and he is the main character. You dont show his face every once in a while, he will become a supporting character. That was the problem for the first movie, and that is why it utterly, failed.
You are wrong. It failed because of the script and most of all because of money issues.
Look at Star Wars. Did you see Vader’s face in the old trilogy? Not once until the very end, and probably it would have been better to keep it secret.
Lucas ruined SW with the prequels, explaining everything (midi-chlorians, Vader, etc). The magic is gone.
We never see The Chief’s face in the games, why should we see him in the movies?
I guess your one dumb kid who would like to see Shia Leboeuf playing The Chief. lol