Neill Blomkamp
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New Halo live action clip unleashed before Master Chief's arrival
Despite not having a Halo movie to direct, Neill Blomkamp continues to make live action short films for Microsoft about the UNSC's struggle with aggressive Covenant forces in the minutes before Master Chief arrives on Earth. The combat is close and erratic, and the production value is noticeably improved over the previous two videos, and the violence has also substantially increased. We're really digging Blomkamp's style, but honestly we're not sure how well it would translates into a feature-length film -- it almost seems better suited in the short-clip format we've been privy to. Right now the only place we know of to see the video is at the Discovery Channel's website; let us know if you find an embeddable version. Update: YouTube version embedded after the break. Thanks, nelson![Via X3F]
Jackson doing Halo film only if Blomkamp is director
That ever-elusive Halo film may soon see the light of day, according to attached producer and Hobbit scholar Peter Jackson, but that he'll only do it if Neill Blomkamp stays on as director.Jackson said in an interview with OnFilm that he believes movie studios 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures, who backed out of funding the movie, will have renewed interest spurred by the impending Halo 3 onslaught.Speaking with Joystiq earlier this month, Bungie's Frank O'Connor said that Blomkamp, a relatively unknown director, was still attached to the project. "That was one of the rumors. It's a lot more complicated than that. But Neil Blomkamp is still working really closely with Peter Jackson," he said."We wouldn't want to do it with anybody else. It'll be Neill's call," said Jackson.If Fox and Universal still don't interest, Microsoft should produce more than enough funding come September 25.[Via Cinematical]
Halo movie officially postponed
Sad news today for Halo fanatics, the movie has been officially postponed. The postponement stems from Fox and Universal recently pulling out of the project. It's worth noting that the production team is still fully behind first time feature director, Neill Blomkamp. Here is the official statement:"As was previously confirmed, we deeply regret that both Universal and Fox did not choose to move forward with financing the Halo film under the original terms of the agreement. At this time Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, along with their partner, Microsoft, have mutually agreed to postpone making a feature film based on the Halo video game universe until we can fulfill the promise we made to millions of Halo fans throughout the world that we would settle for no less than bringing a first class film to the big screen. We are fully supportive of Director Neill Blomkamp's vision of the film. Neill is a tremendously gifted filmmaker and his preliminary work on Halo is truly awe-inspiring. While it will undoubtedly take a little longer for Halo to reach the big screen, we are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait."Whether or not you believe it when corporations say that they're "doing it for the fans," it's heartening to note that the movie is not canceled (though AICN isn't so sure). Then again, oftentimes, movies that take forever to develop eventually fall flat (D&D, anyone?). At any rate, we'd speculate that you won't see any Halo movie before 2008. But hey, at least they're finally rolling out new info about Halo 3, right?[Thanks, Paul]
Halo movie denied, Hollywood pulls out
Variety, paragon of gaming news, is reporting that Fox Studios and Universal have pulled funding for the Halo movie. Hearing the nightmare chorus of fanboys screaming, "Why God? Why!?" into the heavens, I can only give you one answer. Money. Amid rumors that the film's budget would reach $200 million -- originally projected at $135 million -- the studios demanded at the last minute that the filmmakers reduce their deals. This demand was also made in light of the fact that Microsoft had already been promised $5 million up front and 10% of the gross.This turn of events has led some to speculate that Halo's director -- newcomer Neill Blomkamp -- is too inexperienced. This was, however, dismissed by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh's representative, Ken Kamins,"Everybody is supremely confident in Neal [sic]. Part of what excited Peter and Fran was Neal's [sic] vision. We're very confident this film will move forward with the creative partners intact, who will take the film to production."We're a little concerned that Variety managed to misspell both Neill's name and Bungie Studios' name (they spelled it Bungee), but hey, that's Hollywood for you. So, with Halo's fate hanging in the balance, how do you feel? Did you even care about it the first place?[Via Joystiq]
Game over for Halo movie
Both Universal and Fox Studios have pulled out of the Halo movie adaptation, citing rising movie costs and concern over the inexperience of first time director Neil Blomkamp. As the budget was rumored to be edging closer to $200 million, and Microsoft getting a lion's share of the profits, the studio execs decided it was time to pull the plug. It's hard to argue with the logic on this one, based on the director alone. While Peter Jackson is executive producing, Neil Blomkamp doesn't have one feature film to his name, having only been a 3D animator on TV shows like Smallville and Stargate, and directed a Halo-ish short film entitled Alive in Joburg. If Jackson himself took the reins, it would probably be a no brainer, but you can easily understand Universal and Fox not wanting to roll a pair of $200 million dollar dice on someone their first time out of the gate. Microsoft hasn't made things much easier, demanding an upfront fee of five million for the rights and 10% of the profits -- especially when movies based on video games have never been huge performers at the box office. This isn't to say the movie still couldn't get made. Jackson is still attached and pre-production continues on the film, although without a studio home it now faces a serious uphill battle. According to Jackson's agent at International Creative Management, Ken Kamins, "What happened was this: Universal, on behalf of both studios, asked for a meeting with the filmmakers just prior to the due date of a significant payment. Basically, they said that in order to move forward with the film, the filmmakers had to significantly reduce their deals. They waited until the last minute to have this conversation. Peter and Fran, after speaking with their producing partners and with Microsoft and Bungee (the studio that designed the original game), respectfully declined." Come on Variety, you can't even spell Bungie right? What do you think? Should Master Chief drive his warthog out of Hollywood, or come back with both barrels blasting? More Halo movie news on Joystiq: So, you want to make a Halo movie? Script for Halo movie leaked and reviewed? Jackson talks about Halo film
Peter Jackson talks Halo with AICN
There's an interesting Halo movie interview with Peter Jackson on the love it or hate it movie site, Ain't It Cool News. The interview focuses both on Peter's choice of Neill Blomkamp as the director and the importance of the script. Speaking on Blomkamp's nomination, Jackson admits that hiring a "new" director wasn't the plan, but that Blomkamp was simply the best choice."It's not deliberate and certainly for HALO it wasn't deliberate. I don't think even for a show like HALO, which is a big budget production, I don't think there's any problem whatsoever with a so-called first time director directing it. At the end of the day, Neill (Blomkamp) is not a first time director. He's a first time feature film director, but he understands film and grammar as good as anybody. He's done some wonderful short films and commercials. His visual eye is fantastic and his storytelling is great. The fact that it's a feature film just means that he gets to shoot for longer than he did in the short film. There really isn't anything else that's different."Speaking of his personal involvement with the script (along with Lord of the Rings alumni Fran Walsh and Filippa Boyens), Jackson had some very encouraging words."The movie, as far as I'm concerned, as far as my involvement is concerned, is not going to go in front of the cameras until we have a really great script."God, let's hope so. The interview is full of good stuff, and anyone interested in Halo should definitely check it out.[Thanks, Doug Kriz]
AICN grills Halo Director
Ain't It Cool News took it upon themselves to interview Neill Blomkamp, the newly announced director of the Halo movie -- which we can only assume will be called Halo. First, the bad news. It turns out that Blomkamp might have to *gasp!* make some changes to Master Chief's armor (no nipples, please). The good news: this guy sounds like a legitimate fan of the game. "From a purely game playing perspective I am a massive fan of the games, but more importantly, I'm a massive fan of the world and universe of Halo, the science fiction world that the games take place inside of."So he's actually played, and enjoyed, the game? Far out. Hopeful news indeed. Then again, similar things were said about a certain other game film as well. Only time will tell.
Master Chief's armor to be revised for Halo film
Newly anointed Halo director, Neill Blomkamp, has indicated that the iconic armor housing Master Chief will be slightly altered for its appearance in the 2008 film adaptation. Speaking to Ain't It Cool News, a confident Mr. Blomkamp successfully justifies a decision which, in the hands of a typical Hollywood hotshot, could quickly become a nightmarish reimagining of a beloved character into something supposedly more enticing to mainstream sensibilities. "Master Chief is certainly something that I do not want to change too much at all, there are certain things inside the Halo universe that are sacred and he's the main one. Having said that, there is a need to revise certain parts of him, just from a purely technical standpoint, he has to actually be able to move, like a human, and the game design right now does not allow for full motion freedom, which we will have to achieve."The interview sees the director affirming his love for the games, for the universe they depict and for "infected humans and covenant." He fails to provide definitive answers regarding the removal of Master Chief's helmet or the use of Bungie's original soundtracks in the film, but the inclusion or exclusion of either one is likely to fuel fan debate until well after the movie has come and gone. Rejected (and generally horrid) titles for this post: Master stroke: Master Chief armor changing Master Chief suit changing: oh no they didn't Master Chief: borg to be wild Master Chief armor change: Massive damage Master-ious costume change for Chief Master Chief says Halo to new armor Halo movie chief masters armor change Halo armor to be remastered [Thanks for the image, Ross. You'll go to hell for this one.]
Scrutinize Halo director's CV (with videos)
We know a lot of you probably had a sinking feeling in your stomach earlier today when you discovered the just announced director of the highly anticipated Halo movie, Neill Blomkamp, was some commercial director from South Africa of all places (apologies, Ludwig). But we remembered his short film about aliens struggling with integration in Johannesburg and thought the choice was really unique ... so we Googled him. We Googled the sh-t out of him. We came up with his Wikipedia entry (already updated with the Halo info, natch), his IMDb entry, his music video videography, a Canadian effects company he works with, the production company he works for, and all manner of links in between. In so doing, we've assembled a pretty exhaustive selection of all videos available online that Mr. Blomkamp has created over the past couple years, including some short films, commercials, and music videos.Notice any similarities? Yeah, the guy digs technology in a serious way: transforming Citroëns, third-world robocop androids, robotic crabs, and alien bodysuits packing some killer gravity-gun technology. We're all ready imagining Spartans and Covenant Elites duking it out in the sun-bleached streets of New Mombasa.[Update: Added in Tempbot. Thanks for the link Youri Zoutman. Anyone else have any or know of any videos by Neill Blomkamp that we didn't post?]
Halo gets a director and another year
Please take a moment to sample the video above. Now, let that sink in. What you have just witnessed is the work of the newly chosen director of (drumroll please) Halo. That's right ladies and germs, the mystery has been put to rest. It's not Guillermo. It's not Peter Jackson himself. It's a relatively unknown South African (did you hear that Ludwig?) director by the name of Neill Blomkamp. Though Blomkamp's resume consists mostly of short films and commercials, his work has garnered him many awards (including 3 Clios and a Visual Effects Society Award). Also, the Halo movie has been pushed back to 2008, ending any speculation that it would launch day and date with Halo 3. Choosing a little known director whose work has been primarily in commercials and short films is an interesting choice. Then again, Jackson himself started out making campy horror films (so did Sam Raimi of Spider-Man fame) so, who's to say? Do you think he's up to the job?[Via Joystiq]
