Plans to produce a movie adaptation of the popular video game Halo: Combat Evolved have fizzled, according to a statement from representatives of the producers.
Halo — brought to the Mac by MacSoft — has become a popular franchise for Microsoft. The game, developed by Bungie Studios, has spawned two sequels (one is still in development for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 game console). The games tell the ongoing story of humanity’s fight against an alien group called The Covenant — humanity’s main defender is a cybernetically enhanced warrior known only as the Master Chief.
Problems associated with the movie’s financing first came to light earlier this month, when it was revealed that Universal and Fox, who had agreed to co-finance the production — had withdrawn from the project in a dispute over money with the movie’s filmmakers and Microsoft itself.
Microsoft had demanded a $5 million payment up front, and the project was reaching a critical payment deadline when Universal and Fox balked. A spokesman for executive producer Peter Jackson, whose credits include the Lord of the Rings saga and King Kong , and long-time collaborator Fran Walsh declared that the team would “take the film to production” regardless.
More recently, a statement from production studio WingNut Films — owned by Jackson — sealed the movie’s fate, but left the door open for the future.
“At this time Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, along with their partner, Microsoft, have mutually agreed to postpone making a feature film based on the Halo video game universe until we can fulfill the promise we made to millions of Halo fans throughout the world that we would settle for no less than bringing a first class film to the big screen,” reads the statement.
“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,” it concluded.