In 2006 it was announced that Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson was producing a Halo movie, and that South African director Neill Blomkamp would be taking the reins as director on the project.
After directing a series of three short films based on the Halo Universe, Blomkamp was picked to direct the full feature film. Unfortunately, after working with Jackson on the project for five months, development was halted due to a lack of funding.
The Halo movie now sits in an indefinite state of postponement.
Following the collapse of the Halo movie, Blomkamp moved on to work on District 9, a sci-fi ‘Independence Day’ type film set in Johannesburg.
With a significant level of buzz being generated by District 9, rumors have circulated that Blomkamp may return to do Halo at a future date.
Blomkamp told Slashfilm that this is not the case.
“The rumors are completely wrong … The answer is, I probably wouldn’t do Halo if it was offered to me. But creatively, I would like to do it. It’s kind of like I’d be sad to not work on it, but I would still say no.”
He then elaborated “I worked on it for five months … I put a lot of sweat and blood into Halo. Creatively, it’s very compelling. I love it. But, when you work that long on something and you have it bottom out and collapse … I mean, I got District 9 out of it, I think I’m probably better off because it’s more of a personal film. But yeah, I love the world of Halo. I don’t think I would go back there.”
In a separate interview with Newsweek conducted in January 2008, Blomkamp stated that “Master Chief [Halo mascot] worked from a video gamer’s perspective, but dramatically does not hold much weight because of his faceless nature.” Going on to say, “The character as depicted in the film would have been the most important supporting cast member, with other characters around him having to do most of the emotional heavy lifting.”
District 9 has received very positive early feedback. It is a real pity that Blomkamp’s movie depiction of Halo will not make the light of day.
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