Halo film still "on track"

Microsoft has released a statement saying that the Halo movie would "proceed as planned" despite the pullout of its two leading studios. The joint statement with Bungie came shortly after Fox Studios and Universal Pictures chose to back out of production of the film.

For everyone who thinks Fox and Universal might be trying to avoid another video-game to movie stinker, guess again. Fox and Universal were originally supposed to be simply distributing agents and financial backers for the film. The companies actually decided that the movie might be more successful than anticipated, and so wanted a bigger role in the production. Executive Producer Peter Jackson had little interest in the renegotiation, causing the big companies to pull their financial backing.

Microsoft and Bungie were completely inflexible on surrendering production power, as the deal was specifically set up so that they would have nearly complete creative control over the product. The companies are now shopping for other financial backers to move forward with production.

A quote from the statement on Bungie's website:
"We are disappointed that Universal and Fox wanted to significantly renegotiate the financial points of the deal. But the Halo franchise is hugely popular and our goal remains the same - to find a partner that shares our passion and will creatively collaborate with us to best represent the story and spirit of the Halo franchise.

"Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and the rest of the creative team are dedicated to ensuring the Halo movie becomes a reality."

Here's to hoping that the creative control that Microsoft and Bungie are so determined to keep prevents the film from being another over-hyped video game failure.

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