Earlier we asked Where the hell is the Halo Movie? DreamWorks Pictures are looking good to do what
Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox failed to successfully
achieve, bring the popular video game franchise to the big screen.
DreamWorks
Pictures is renewing its efforts to obtain the rights and revive the project,
which has been in a state of suspended animation since late 2006, Vulture reports. With Universal reportedly having already put in $12
million for adapting the games, DreamWorks is said to be basing its project on
the books, so that Universal can’t demand the studio to reimburse the
developments costs. Stuart Beattie previously wrote a script based on the novel
Halo: The Fall of Reach which was sent to Microsoft. He tells the site that
his “long-term goal is to get three Halo movies [based on the three novelizations]
made. It’s not something I can accomplish tomorrow. But if I can help, I am
glad to do it.”
While insiders say that Fox and Universal have settled
their differences out of court, a person intimately involved with the original
Halo deal tells Vulture that “Fox fucked them completely” and Universal lost
close to all of its $12 million investment. And that residual anger over the
wasted money is the big reason why DreamWorks is so explicitly saying its
project is based on the books: By citing “different” source material, it
preemptively neutralizes any attempt by Universal lawyers to demand that the
new studio reimburse its $12 million in development costs.
