Halo Movie - director attached

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 10 Aug 2006, 08:49

The director has been announced. Neill Blomkamp, making his feature-length film debut.

"The Halo motion picture will be helmed by Neill Blomkamp, making his feature film debut. Blomkamp is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and original artists currently working in short films and commercial advertising. Halo will be distributed domestically by Universal and internationally by Fox. Visual effects, miniatures, and creature design and creation will all be handled by Jackson's award-winning Weta Digital Ltd. and Weta Workshop, Ltd., most recently known for their Oscar-worthy work on The Lord of the Rings films."

"A native of South Africa, Blomkamp directed the acclaimed 2005 short film, Alive in Joburg, that depicted a future in which extraterrestrials have become refugees. Last year, Blomkamp also received three Clio Awards and a Visual Effects Society Award for his television commercial Citroen-Alive with Technology. In 2004, Blomkamp was recognized as "One of the Top Five Directors to Watch" at the First Boards Awards and was a featured artist at the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase at Cannes. He has also been nominated for an Emmy award for his work on an episode of James Cameron's Dark Angel."

BTW you can see Alive in Joburg here.

It'll be filmed (at least parts of it probably) in NZ's capital Wellingt(r)on.

Sources:-
http://www.gpforums.co.nz/thread/331806/?s=
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113762

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 10 Aug 2006, 08:58

When it's released I'm sure it'll be Yi's MOTY.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 10 Aug 2006, 12:47

Not really, as I dont even like the games

Master Chief just isnt interesting, neither is the story and the setting...

It COULD turn out to be a good movie, I dont know, but I cant say I'm interested yet...

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 10 Aug 2006, 21:04

Wasn't Peter Jackson supposed to direct? Anyway, how can this be made into a good movie?

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 11 Aug 2006, 00:16

It's gonna be shit. Halo as a game is terribly overrated, and has a very flimsy storyline. The only reason that the storyline doesn't matter as much in a great number of games (including Halo is because the game itself is supposed to pick up the slack; you play some games for the gameplay and not the story. In my opinion, it did nothing of the sort.
So, take away the shitty gameplay and you're left with a shitty storyline.

As for success, it won't be. The trouble is, the people who like the game are gonna get pissed off with the film as it won't be their experience of the game, or the director's going to have to put things in which didn't occur in the game so purists will be pissed off, and the people who don't like the game are already pissed off with the notion that someone's wasting valuable time and money on this shit.

However, I'm willing to be proved wrong. Mortal Kombat is a guilty pleasure of mine

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 11 Aug 2006, 02:52

thelostdragon wrote:Wasn't Peter Jackson supposed to direct?

No, he was always the producer.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 11 Aug 2006, 09:05

Kurgan wrote:The only reason that the storyline doesn't matter as much in a great number of games is because the game itself is supposed to pick up the slack; you play some games for the gameplay and not the story.

I love the games that you play for both, like the "Metal Gear Solid"-series or the "Zelda"-series.

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 11 Aug 2006, 10:34

Yeah, me too, which is why I was careful enough to say 'some' games.

I suppose the same goes the other way. I played the Wing Commander series of games more for the story than the actual gameplay, which couldn't hold a candle to the superior X-Wing series. And Chris Roberts tried making a film of his own story and that was supposed to be shite as well! (I never sullied my eyes with it.)
But games like Street Fighter II or Tekken, you don't play for the story, you play for the great gameplay.
So each type of game has their place. But too many of the franchises have been brought to the big screen because they are good gaming experiences, with little thought given to story. And when a movie studio decides to forgo the story, they fail on the action front. Doom which I had pretty high hopes for, and wasn't completely disgusted with in terms of end result, is a good example of this. The only sequence which was really any good, was the nod to the game in using a POV shot to replicate the FPS side of things.

But, I'm beginning to bore again. Let's just say that I think Halo the film is going to suck balls, just as Halo the game did.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 Aug 2006, 23:24

Kermode is right when he says games make awful films.

They have no plot or narrative, they're not need for a computer game (the player makes the plot up as they go along) but when a film crucially needs both.

Look at Doom. Awesome computer game, awful film (it also came far to late, the Doom hyped finished years ago).

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 12 Aug 2006, 01:25

bradavon wrote:Kermode is right when he says games make awful films.

They have no plot or narrative...

OK, I guess Brad has stopped playing video games after "Doom". Wait... there even were games with plots and narratives in the days of "Doom". Just remember the revolutionary "Monkey Island". Brad, I suppose you have never played any of the "Metal Gear Solid"-titles.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Aug 2006, 14:15

LOL I'm an adult I stopped play computer games 5+ years ago. Okay I have the odd blast every now again but mainly for nostalgia.

Just remember the revolutionary "Monkey Island".

Fair point I'd forgotten about those sorts of games but:

* They're not being made into films
* You as the player still ultimately decide the plot and how the game progresses

Brad, I suppose you have never played any of the "Metal Gear Solid"-titles.

Nope. I used to have more fun getting the bloody pc games to work than actually playing them

. I did complete a few though like the original Screamer. I stopped playing computer games properly after I finished with the first Unreal.

My point was that all the films based on games so far have completely new plots with only lose connections to the game as said game didn't really have a plot to start with.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 12 Aug 2006, 14:38

Halo is the most overated game in history X Box games just suck balls and the PC conversion even with a mouse and keyboard was crap compared to most PC shoters. Half Life 2 is about 10 years ahead of Halo 2 in every way.

I want a film of Half Life 2, not Halo.

Still we have no idea if the Halo film will be good or not, I wont mind seeing it thats for sure.

and no Kermode is wrong, he always is and always will be as he is a fucking dickhead who loves bile films and thinks he is the most important film person in the world.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Aug 2006, 15:39

romerojpg wrote:thinks he is the most important film person in the world.

If you listened to him every week like I do (without fail) you'd know he's being sarcastic.

The man really likes to waffle which personally I love. He can really go off on one. His one man rants are awesome and usually very funny. You can tell straight away if he's off as the running time of his Film Review podcast drops from 40 minutes to just 20.

Of course I don't always agree with him but I do enjoy listening to his waffle once a week.