Halo Script Dumped

Halo Script Dumped

Problems for the highly anticipated adaptation?
by Paul Davidson

July 17, 2006 - Contrary to how it goes with most videogame adaptations, Halo seemed to start out on the right foot. Game publisher Microsoft struck a hard bargain with Universal to meet high standards and protect the quality of the Halo brand, which at this points consists of two remarkably successful computer games. Alex Garland (28 Days Later) was hired board last year to write the screenplay, but it's now believed his script failed to make the cut. Garland's draft may have been abandoned, and newcomer D.B. Weiss may be penning a new one. While Weiss has no Hollywood credits on his resume, he's currently writing the screenplay for Ender's Game also.

In an interview with the GameSetWatch website, Weiss revealed his enthusiasm at being hired to write Halo:

"Yeah, I'm pretty excited about it. And I did always think there was a lot more to the Halo universe than most games — I remember switching to "easy" mode on the first game, so I could plow through it more quickly and find out what happened next."

Weiss is just beginning his story draft, but he warned the hardcore Halo fans that not all will be just like the game.

"There will be the 5% on the fringe of any hardcore fanbase that get angry about any change you make to the source material. The truth is that novels, games, comics, and what-have-you are not usually ready to be slapped up on screen as-is. If you did do a 100% faithful version, 999 times out of 1000 it would be a mess."

The commissioning of a new script makes a 2007 release for Halo — as was originally planned — unlikely. The Internet Movie Database already projects a 2008 opening for the sci-fi actioner. Microsoft had hoped to synchronize the release of Halo 3, their next videogame in the series, with that of the film; that may not happen now, with Halo 3 still expected in stores before the end of 2007.

Halo is the story of a band of space marines and the supersoldier Master Chief who land on an artificial orbital ring while Earth is at war with an alien faction called the Covenant. Humanity's future may depend on discovering why the aliens are so interested in the ring; that and other deadly secrets await the protagonists.