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Peter Jackson Halo game scrapped

[UPDATE 2] At Comic-Con, filmmaker reveals his Microsoft collaboration "collapsed" when film project fell apart in 2006; manager Ken Kamins says final fate was sealed in January; Microsoft finally concedes game "on hold."

Last week, Microsoft announced a new anime compilation based on its popular sci-fi series Halo. Unfortunately, the weekend also brought news that one of the most anticipated cross-media projects based on the multiplatinum series will never see the light of day. Speaking with game blog Joystiq, Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson said his long-awaited mystery Halo project, rumored to be called Halo Chronicles, fell apart nearly three years ago.

"That Halo project is no longer happening; it sort of collapsed when the movie didn't end up happening," said the filmmaker, apparently referring to the film's indefinite suspension in October 2006.

Though Microsoft had not commented on the project's cancellation as of press time, Jackson outlined the reasons behind the project's collapse. "Microsoft has a whole strategy with the Halo property, and when the rights expired with the two studios, that sort of ended my involvement with the project. That fell apart because of internal politics at Fox and Universal. It had nothing to do with the budget or anything else. In fact, we hadn't even been greenlit at all at that point."

[UPDATE] Speaking to the Los Angeles Times yesterday, Jackson's manager Ken Kamins said while Halo Chronicles essentially imploded in 2006, the final plug wasn't pulled until just this past January as part of Microsoft's company-wide downsizing. The still-officially-unacknowledged Halo massively multiplayer game was also an apparent casualty of the cuts--as was its rumored developer, Ensemble Studios.

"They were scaling back everything, including the number of Halo games, and it just made sense at that point," he said. "Once The Hobbit and Tintin got going, they really cannibalized Peter's time and ability to oversee any Halo games."

[UPDATE 2] On Tuesday, Microsoft belatedly acknowledged that work on the project, which it referred to as "Halo Chronicles" for the first time publicly, was at a standstill. "Microsoft Game Studios is deeply committed to supporting and strategically growing the Halo franchise, and our relationship with Peter and his team is something that we greatly value," read its statement. "Given the bandwidth of both of our companies we’ve decided to put this joint effort on hold and prioritize resources against other projects like Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, and Halo Legends."

Jackson's comments echoed those made on Friday by Neill Blomkamp, the unknown director whom Jackson tapped when he was executive-producing the Halo film. At Comic-Con promoting his forthcoming cerebral sci-fi film District 9, Blomkamp aired an appreciation of the Halo universe, which was the inspiration for several live-action shorts he made to promote Halo 3. However, he also expressed bitterness about the Halo film's unraveling, which he would forgo signing back onto, should the project ever emerge from the turnaround.

Jackson, who is executive-producing District 9, also discussed the merits of games versus movies with another expert on both subjects, director James Cameron, who showed off footage of his sci-fi epic Avatar at Comic-Con. The pair praised games as offering a more interactive option for entertainment during a period where the quality of big-budget films is declining. However, they agreed that games don't yet carry the same emotional resonance as films. "As much as I love video games, you don't cry during video games," declared Cameron.

102 Comments

  • green_dominator

    Posted Sep 25, 2009 5:36 pm GMT

    @Nosnitsttam
    Your right, it could have been a good film especially with Peter jackson at the helm but hopefully the project isn't fully dead and it comes back possibly under someone just as talented and under a better studio. Stuff like that happens alot in Hollywood, sometimes a film goes down prematurely but then later another director breathes new life into it and it's better for it......

  • Nosnitsttam

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 5:48 pm GMT

    fox and universal are both morons for letting that opportunity slip through their fingers. the halo movie could have been great. i have no opinion of the games but after seeing District 9 and all of his shorts, i had no doubts that Neill Blomkamp was the best choice to direct the film.

  • Gammet25

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 11:56 pm GMT

    Haven't seen Peter Jackson work on many films since The Lord of The Rings. Looking forward to his new films.

  • datadogg7888

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 1:51 am GMT

    i think these guy needs to watch a machinima or two.... thats bs that you cant make a game into an emotional and dramatic show even more so an awesome movie.... all done by gamers and enthusiast like you and me. just to name a few "Red Vs Blue", "Leet World", "Civil Protection"... Check it out if u want, theres a whole amount of possibilities anyone can overlook.

  • haloboy10

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 1:47 pm GMT

    I do agree though because nobody ever cries while playing a game but some people do when watching films

  • ryaz_weaponx

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 11:16 am GMT

    no halo movie ?

  • SpiKeX-Crom

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 9:50 am GMT

    I very sad. I'm not a big HALO guy, but when i saw the first 8 minutes of HALO on YouTube, I immediately fell in love. I do believe that Jackson will take Spielberg's place, since Spielberg's time is at an end. Well, hopefully District 9 will hold up to the disappointment of no HALO movie. And dg3215, I'm sorry you think that. Oh, course, your only watching the wrong movies. There is some much creativity and art in movies, you just have to find the right ones. If you don't like movies, may I suggest watching "B" movies, or find a specific director that you feel shows emotion, creativity and art. May I suggest M. Night Shamylan, or JJ Abrams, The Wachowski Brothers, Peter Weir, etc. Those are the people that know what is more important than satisfying the public.

  • dg3215

    Posted Jul 31, 2009 9:14 am GMT

    I don't feel any emotions when I watch a movie, they are fake for one and two it just a bunch of over paid a$$holes and drug addicts on the screen. At least a video game it is my own efforts and you develop your character. I almost cried when my dog died in Fable 2. Movies suck anymore, there is no creativity in them anymore so they use video games and old cartoons for inspiration and then annihilate them, and try to pass it off a art.

  • senorbusyman

    Posted Jul 29, 2009 12:34 pm GMT

    the only game I cried in was the Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of Time when Link gave back the ocarina back to Zelda, so they could go back in time and celebrate the defeat of Ganondorf!

  • futbolwarrior

    Posted Jul 29, 2009 6:56 am GMT

    Well so sad, to bad.....thanks for getting all the players pumped up for the movie. Still, they got a point. A movie is emotional but you cant interact with it. With a game you are the one to make the game emotional. Thats why I love games with multiple endings. You can have a different emotional outcome everytime.

  • starduke

    Posted Jul 29, 2009 6:12 am GMT

    Now they tell us...three years later! Also, Ca-moron doesn't know what he's talking about. While I don't exactly cry when I play video games, there are a few games that have very emotional moments. I agree with the people who mentioned KOTOR. That game was so great because of the emotions it evoked. Wheather it's going totally Sith and giving into your anger and killing anyone who crossed you, or going Lightside and trying to help everyone and save the galaxy, only to have the love of your characters life turn dark (at least if you played as a dude)... and finding out what really happened to Darth Reven.Yes, that game could evoke emotions.

  • Gabe447

    Posted Jul 29, 2009 4:18 am GMT

    Crisis core,Mgs4,Star wars force unleashed all with emotional moments and ends

  • fredwv

    Posted Jul 28, 2009 3:12 pm GMT

    come on... everybody cried when Sepiroth killed Aeris in FF7. :p

  • lexluis

    Posted Jul 28, 2009 11:17 am GMT

    I cried the end of MGS4, that was an incredible ending (there were many sad parts thought)

  • plm3d_basic

    Posted Jul 28, 2009 10:52 am GMT

    It's probably better off if Microsoft makes an entirely CG movie since a live action one probably wouldn't look right. A guy in a armored Mark IV suit would move rather clunky and not as fluidly as it is portrayed in CGI. Use the same studio that did the CG cutscenes for Halo Wars which was very high quality for a game.

  • Megamanx266

    Posted Jul 28, 2009 10:46 am GMT

    They weren't commenting on the "lack" of emotional experiences with video games... They're commenting on the fact those emotional experiences aren't quite as powerful compared movies. I mean, are you gonna cry when a pixelated character that looks awsome gets randomly shot in the head by the bad guy and dies? Or are you gonna cry when the same thing happens with more "realist" people in a movie. (Note there's obviously gonna be a sappy see right after)

  • blackfray

    Posted Jul 28, 2009 9:24 am GMT

    lol someone is got to be angry...

  • johnnyBgood99

    Posted Jul 28, 2009 8:06 am GMT

    All these "strong emotional" game examples eveyone is giving are great, but they're great as far as video games go. Comparitively to movies, they are all inferior on the emotional level in which they can grip you. Gran Torino is great example of a new release. Not so long ago Crash just about destroyed me for an evening because it is was so intense. I do not believe there is a single game that can match either one of those movies, plus the countless others that are slipping my mind right now.