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Halo Movie Deal: Microsoft, Fox, Universal

Dupy

"it is in giving that we receive"
Am I the only one who wonders what the hell is in Bungie's "Halo Bible"? I mean, the games sure as hell don't reflect anything worthy of a 1,000 page universe outline. Halo 2's story was decent, all 10 minutes of it.

You can have all the backstory and racial outlines you want, if players aren't getting this stuff in the games then what's the point?
 

ManaByte

Member
KDups said:
Am I the only one who wonders what the hell is in Bungie's "Halo Bible"? I mean, the games sure as hell don't reflect anything worthy of a 1,000 page universe outline. Halo 2's story was decent, all 10 minutes of it.

You can have all the backstory and racial outlines you want, if players aren't getting this stuff in the games then what's the point?

Who said it was 1,000 pages? Most big SciFi shows have a "Show Bible" that is basically something to maintain some sense of continuity with the universe, but they are rarely that big.

I used to have a copy the ST:TNG show bible and it wasn't more than 100 pages really.
 
Rorschach said:
I wouldn't get my hopes up.

This could be MS' The Spirits Within.

Not really, didn't Square spend so much money financing TSW that it almost killed the company? From the looks of the deal MS's financial involvement in terms of supporting production is over. I think they paid Garland $1 million for the script and made $5 million in selling it.
 

Ash Housewares

The Mountain Jew
these bibles get thrown out so easily

did anyone see Highlander Endgame?

atleast it is a game movie being written under the supervision of the game creators, so it will actually be about the same thing and not stray completely off course like every other
 

Manders

Banned
the script doesn't sound like it's any good. no one would accept the $10m asking price. dropped to $5m. microsoft got screwed. i guess tehy should've gotten a decent writer!! :lol
 

AB 101

Banned
Why do I think this movie will suck.

But the Halo boys will lap it up and thus it is guaranteed to a least break even.
 

User 406

Banned
"What do you mean you won't submit to our demands? We gave you 24 hours to comply! Don't you want to partner with us? But we're Microsoft!"

Wow, Microsoft tromping into yet another market with all the finesse of a bull in a china shop, wotta fuckin' shocker. :p
 

Prine

Banned
im just happy they are serioes about Halo movie :D

i'll be there to watch it on release :D

Hope they get Danny Elfman or John Williams to do the score. Maybe, Marty O Donell but id imagine he's busy with Halo3
 

Odnetnin

Banned
all that money and MS didn't do the whole feature themselves? They should have gone to Lucasarts and asked them to do it all. CG/movie..etc and get a cut of the deal. I think missing out on Dreamworks is a big boo hoo for them too.

Maybe Universal will slip in a mummy or wolfman
 

The End

Member
They're going to be walking a fine line here. If they want a star, they're not going to be able to keep him in the helmet for the whole movie.
 

Regniws

Member
I'm not looking forward to it at all. I've never really been a fan of the storyline in Halo besides for a few people everybody in it are just a bunch of pansies. Movie is going to star somebody like Vin Diesel as MC... May god have mercy on their souls... With all the movies coming out the next two summers, if they release it they should do it around a fall release.
 

sol5377

Member
The End said:
They're going to be walking a fine line here. If they want a star, they're not going to be able to keep him in the helmet for the whole movie.

If you've read Fall of Reach, you know that during much of the story, Master Chief is actually out of the helmet. The first part actually narrates his childhood, then his later teen and early 20's years where we'll (obviously) see his face and reactions in the movie. It's only later on that he sports his full gear with the helmet and Mjolnir armor. Still, getting a quality "no name" actor would be ideal in this situation. There are also parts where he could take the helmet off and show his face. Another option would be to tweak the face plate of the helmet to have it dynamically change from silver (while in combat) to transparent/invisible (while he's talking and not in combat and such. This would be the best of both worlds, imo.

I'd get Ridley Scott to direct and Clive Owen to star.
 

The End

Member
sol5377 said:
If you've read Fall of Reach, you know that during much of the story, Master Chief is actually out of the helmet. The first part actually narrates his childhood, then his later teen and early 20's years where we'll (obviously) see his face and reactions in the movie. It's only later on that he sports his full gear with the helmet and Mjolnir armor. Still, getting a quality "no name" actor would be ideal in this situation. There are also parts where he could take the helmet off and show his face. Another option would be to tweak the face plate of the helmet to have it dynamically change from silver (while in combat) to transparent/invisible (while he's talking and not in combat and such. This would be the best of both worlds, imo.

I'd get Ridley Scott to direct and Clive Owen to star.


See, i read real books. You know, ones not based on videogames.

You have to assume that if they're paying Alex Garland $5 million for a script, it's more or less "original".
 

Fafalada

Fafracer forever
Am i the only one seeing this movie being of Battlefield Earth quality tanking
Actually I'm more thinking WingCommander :p But end result would be about the same anyhow.

Anyway, the better question is, will it be better then the Doom movie? :D
 

pringles

Member
Halo 2s story was awful. After reading the books and following ILB it felt like being kicked between the legs and stabbed in the back at the same time.
Hopefully, the movie will be based on The Fall of Reach, then it could actually turn out good.

I fear that it will just end up being another kick in the groin though.
 

sol5377

Member
The End said:
See, i read real books. You know, ones not based on videogames.

You have to assume that if they're paying Alex Garland $5 million for a script, it's more or less "original".

Actually, it's $1 million for the script.

And the book is good. And it's real.
 

HokieJoe

Member
IF John McTiernan, James Cameron, or Ridley Scott direct this movie it could be good. Otherwise, I'm not very hopeful. I really, really, really wish ID would shop a Return to Castle Wolfenstein script myself. I think that could be a very cool movie if done right.
 
Deku Tree said:
Video games and movies don't mix.... ever.

I still get a guilty pleasure from watching the first MK movie. But that so far it, along with Tomb Raider are the pinnicles of VG movies is quite sad.

However Garland isn't a hack thankfully and given the back stories of the SPARTAN II's this could be the movie that Soldier was supposed to be before Paul W.S. Anderson butchered it.
 

DCX

DCX
The End said:
They're going to be walking a fine line here. If they want a star, they're not going to be able to keep him in the helmet for the whole movie.
Which is why they will cast a voice rather than a body. They would rather have someone who everyone knows when they hear him, and just cast an athletic/military type to just be the actor in the suit.

DCX
 

GaimeGuy

Volunteer Deputy Campaign Director, Obama for America '16
DCX said:
Which is why they will cast a voice rather than a body. They would rather have someone who everyone knows when they hear him, and just cast an athletic/military type to just be the actor in the suit.

DCX
James Earl Jones? :lol
 

GhaleonEB

Member
The End said:
See, i read real books. You know, ones not based on videogames.

You have to assume that if they're paying Alex Garland $5 million for a script, it's more or less "original".

Elitest prick. Don't criticize what you have not read, that's just plain dumb.

And get your facts straight - they paid $1m.
 

IJoel

Member
The End said:
See, i read real books. You know, ones not based on videogames.

You have to assume that if they're paying Alex Garland $5 million for a script, it's more or less "original".

Because fiction books aren't 'real'.

You should stop wasting your time with a gaming forum too, you know?
 

whytemyke

Honorary Canadian.
Article said:
Within 24 hours of reading the script, based on the game about an alien universe, five studios dropped out of the bidding, including DreamWorks SKG and Paramount Pictures.

Uh... yeah. Five studios dropped out of the race for the biggest video game movie to ever be made after one read of the script? My optimism for this movie has just been cut in half.


And as for voice... they should cast Keifer Sutherland.
 

Tiktaalik

Member
whytemyke said:
Uh... yeah. Five studios dropped out of the race for the biggest video game movie to ever be made after one read of the script? My optimism for this movie has just been cut in half.

I think they dropped out of the race because the "biggest video game movie to ever be made" is still likely to be worse than most average hollywood movies.

edit: regardless of script, they just have to look at precedent.
 

Any1

Member
What the hell are some of yall on about. What things have you heard about the way MS is handling this movie gives you the impression that it will suck? Everything i've heard suggests the opposite. MS got a proven screenplay writer to produce the script. They are trying to make sure that they have final approval on things like director and actors to insure that the movie is made by a "real" director and actors. Not to mention the fact that MS is not stupid, they know that alot will be riding on this movie. This movie could have a huge effect on sales of the 360. So you can bet your ass that they will spare no expense in making sure that this movie is quality through and through.

And as far as it being an animated or CGI movie, that would be the worst thing they could do. No one would take the film seriously.
 

Gahiggidy

My aunt & uncle run a Mom & Pop store, "The Gamecube Hut", and sold 80k WiiU within minutes of opening.
This is a bad idea. No one who actually thinks this is a good idea can possibly be over the age of 12.


Adults know better.
 

Mr Nash

square pies = communism
Microsoft is lucky they got anyone to sign on for a Halo movie. Here's the list of demands that they had:

http://news.com.com/Hollywood+balks+at+Microsofts+Halo+pitch/2100-1043_3-5740542.html?tag=nefd.top

When executives were finished reading, each studio was given a proposal with Microsoft's terms and 24 hours to respond.

Aside from the $10 million upfront fee, Microsoft was asking for 15 percent of the studio's first-dollar box-office gross receipts. The budget could be no less than $75 million, not including the fees for the actors and director. If the studio did not make the movie, it would forfeit the $10 million fee.

Microsoft also wanted creative control, with the script and characters unchanged. The studio would have to pay to fly a Microsoft representative to watch all cuts of the movie, and the studio would forgo merchandising rights.

Hollywood saw Microsoft's and Creative Artists' proposal as less of a framework than an ultimatum. By Monday night, both DreamWorks and New Line Cinema had dropped out. On Tuesday morning, Disney, Paramount Pictures and Warner Brothers Pictures were gone, too. Executives at the exiting studios argued that if Microsoft was so concerned about preserving the Halo universe, it could have financed the movie on its own, as the director George Lucas did with the "Star Wars" franchise.

"Microsoft does not want to be in the business of financing movies," Schlessel said.

"The bottom line is, If you don't ask, you are not going to get it," said Tom Sherak, a veteran movie marketing executive at Revolution Studios. "But the one thing about Hollywood is that is very hard to bully anyone when you are asking for that kind of price."
 

Nerevar

they call me "Man Gravy".
whytemyke said:
Uh... yeah. Five studios dropped out of the race for the biggest video game movie to ever be made after one read of the script? My optimism for this movie has just been cut in half.
Zaxxon said:
I think they dropped out of the race because the "biggest video game movie to ever be made" is still likely to be worse than most average hollywood movies.

The movie studios dropped out becuase there was no way in hell they were going to accept Microsoft's demands, regardless of the script. $10 million up front, a portion of all the revenue, no merchandising rights, no creative control, complete MS oversight in every step of the process - that's not how Hollywood works. They figured if MS wanted all that so bad they should make the movie themselves.
 

arter_2

Member
Wow, I didn't know Garland wrote the script he is an avid videogame lover and has wrote alot of great books in the past. He wrote the beach one of my personal favorites hell theres even alot of videogame talk in that book too. Wow good to know the script won't suck
 
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=videogameadaptation.htm

Code:
Rank	Title				Studio	Lifetime Gross (US)	Opening 	Budget		Date
1 	Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 	Par. 	$131,168,070 		$47,735,743 	$115,000,000	6/15/01
2 	Pokemon: The First Movie 	WB 	$85,744,662 		$31,036,678	$30,000,000	11/10/99
3 	Mortal Kombat 			NL 	$70,454,098		$23,283,887	N/A		8/18/95
4 	Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life	Par. 	$65,660,196 		$21,783,641	$130,000,000	7/25/03
5 	Resident Evil: Apocalypse 	SGem 	$51,201,453		$23,036,273 	$70,000,000	9/10/04
6 	Pokemon: The Movie 2000 	WB 	$43,758,684 		$19,575,608	$30,000,000	7/21/00
7 	Resident Evil 			SGem 	$40,119,709		$17,707,106	$53,000,000	3/15/02
8 	Mortal Kombat: Annihilation 	NL 	$35,927,406		$16,771,694	N/A		11/21/97
9 	Street Fighter 			Uni. 	$33,423,521 		$6,859,495	$35,000,000	12/23/94
10 	Final Fantasy: Spirits Within 	Sony 	$32,131,830 		$11,408,853	$167,000,000	7/13/01
11 	Super Mario Bros. 		BV 	$20,915,465		$8,532,623	$48,000,000	5/28/93
12 	Pokemon 3: The Movie 		WB 	$17,052,128 		$8,240,752	$16,000,000	4/6/01
13 	The Wizard 			Uni. 	$14,278,900 		$2,142,525	N/A		12/15/89
14 	Wing Commander 			Fox 	$11,578,059 		$5,114,365	$30,000,000	3/12/99
15 	House of the Dead		Art. 	$10,249,719 		$5,683,280 	$22,000,000	10/10/03
16 	Alone in the Dark 		Lions 	$5,178,569 		$2,834,421	$20,000,000	1/28/05
17 	Double Dragon 			Gram. 	$2,341,309 		$1,376,561 	N/A		11/4/94
18 	Pokemon 4Ever 			Dim. 	$1,727,447 		$717,061 	N/A		10/11/02
19 	Pokemon Heroes	 		Mira. 	$746,381		$260,372 	N/A		5/16/03
20
I'm guessing Halo will end up somewhere between Mortal Kombat and Wing Commander. :lol
 

FiRez

Member
Spike Spiegel said:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=videogameadaptation.htm

Code:
Rank	Title				Studio	Lifetime Gross (US)	Opening 	Budget		Date
1 	Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 	Par. 	$131,168,070 		$47,735,743 	$115,000,000	6/15/01
2 	Pokemon: The First Movie 	WB 	$85,744,662 		$31,036,678	$30,000,000	11/10/99
3 	Mortal Kombat 			NL 	$70,454,098		$23,283,887	N/A		8/18/95
4 	Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life	Par. 	$65,660,196 		$21,783,641	$130,000,000	7/25/03
5 	Resident Evil: Apocalypse 	SGem 	$51,201,453		$23,036,273 	$70,000,000	9/10/04
6 	Pokemon: The Movie 2000 	WB 	$43,758,684 		$19,575,608	$30,000,000	7/21/00
7 	Resident Evil 			SGem 	$40,119,709		$17,707,106	$53,000,000	3/15/02
8 	Mortal Kombat: Annihilation 	NL 	$35,927,406		$16,771,694	N/A		11/21/97
9 	Street Fighter 			Uni. 	$33,423,521 		$6,859,495	$35,000,000	12/23/94
10 	Final Fantasy: Spirits Within 	Sony 	$32,131,830 		$11,408,853	$167,000,000	7/13/01
11 	Super Mario Bros. 		BV 	$20,915,465		$8,532,623	$48,000,000	5/28/93
12 	Pokemon 3: The Movie 		WB 	$17,052,128 		$8,240,752	$16,000,000	4/6/01
13 	The Wizard 			Uni. 	$14,278,900 		$2,142,525	N/A		12/15/89
14 	Wing Commander 			Fox 	$11,578,059 		$5,114,365	$30,000,000	3/12/99
15 	House of the Dead		Art. 	$10,249,719 		$5,683,280 	$22,000,000	10/10/03
16 	Alone in the Dark 		Lions 	$5,178,569 		$2,834,421	$20,000,000	1/28/05
17 	Double Dragon 			Gram. 	$2,341,309 		$1,376,561 	N/A		11/4/94
18 	Pokemon 4Ever 			Dim. 	$1,727,447 		$717,061 	N/A		10/11/02
19 	Pokemon Heroes	 		Mira. 	$746,381		$260,372 	N/A		5/16/03
20
I'm guessing Halo will end up somewhere between Mortal Kombat and Wing Commander. :lol

:lol :lol
 
Its because of actions like this that MS should be closed.....damn the Americans and their cockyness.....

MS:OMG!!! OUR FILM ROKZZZZZ!!! NOW MAKE IT AND GIVE US 10 MILLION or take a high............


Movies studios:........errr how about a NO?!!??
 

G-Fex

Member
well...heh. Man, well maybe the second script sucks less than the first one. But they're already having guys showup in MC suits, funny man funny.
 

Nerevar

they call me "Man Gravy".
Bluemercury said:
Its because of actions like this that MS should be closed.....damn the Americans and their cockyness.....

MS:OMG!!! OUR FILM ROKZZZZZ!!! NOW MAKE IT AND GIVE US 10 MILLION or take a high............


Movies studios:........errr how about a NO?!!??

Page81_pict01632.jpeg
 

FoneBone

Member
ManaByte said:
If they release Summer 2006 they'll be crushed by The Da Vinci code on Memorial Day and Superman in June. They'd be very smart to hold out for a August release.

Same goes for 2007 where it'd be destroyed by Spider-Man 3, Indiana Jones, and Shrek 3.
Yes, we all know that there's only room for one major release per month during the summer.

Also, while the movie may well be crap, I think some of you are underestimating how big Halo is at this point -- I mean, the Tomb Raider franchise was well past its prime by the time the movie opened.
 

Master Z

Member
The only way a good director like Ridley Scott will do this movie is if they're a huge fan of the game and they don't mind MS breathing down their neck every step of the way. Most likely not going to happen folks.
 

HokieJoe

Member
Master Z said:
The only way a good director like Ridley Scott will do this movie is if they're a huge fan of the game and they don't mind MS breathing down their neck every step of the way. Most likely not going to happen folks.

I agree.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Looks like I neglected to mention it earlier, but I agree with most that this is a terrible, terrible idea. I find the story in Halo to be interesting, but it is an action-driven series. I don't see a good movie coming out of this.
 
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