Anders Bergstrom's blog on Words, Films, and Music

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Video game movies suck. Name one that's actually really good. You can't. Can you? Didn't think so.

It looks like Microsoft and Bungie are out to change that with the adaptation of my favourite video games of the last 5 years. The Halo movie is being produced jointly by 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios (why? think $100 million plus budget) who declared that they want to make Halo: The Movie their tentpole release of 2007.

But why my optimism that this won't be another suck-fest, like the latest from Paul W.S. "I didn't make Boogie Nights" Anderson (Resident Evil) or Uwe Boll (House of the Dead)? Well for starters they've got a real screenwriter: author Alex Garland (28 Days Later, The Beach). Always good to start with a decent script. Plus, Bungie has been personally involved in the production from the beginning. But the icing on the cake was announced today. And it just about blew my mind.

Announced today was the name of the Halo film project's executive producer. His name? Peter Jackson. Yep. That Peter Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh. Yep, the Oscar-winning duo behind the best films of the decade. And they're bringing their amazing WETA workshops with them to work on models and effects of the Covenant, the Flood and all our favourite weapons and vehicles. This is crazy. This movie could be huge. This movie will be huge. Halo 2 made more in one day than any film ever has ($80 million). Jackson's Lord of the Rings are among the most beloved and highest grossing films of the decade. Mark my words. This is great news for gamer and movie fans.

P.S. Yes, I'm working on a post about my weekend in Seattle and the Franz Ferdinand concert. I'm just waiting for Lesley to send me the photos.

3 comments:

Dean Ziegler said...

Mortal Combat Anders. Mortal Combat. He punched that weird four-armed guy in the balls. I mean, come on man! Where would they come up with such a hilarious and original stunt? That's cinematic gold.

Anders said...

You're not allowed to talk any more Dean. I'm sorry.

Aren said...

Halo will be so good I think I will just go ahead and throw up.