Halo Movie Script Publicity Stunt

[keeks]

Gamasutra reports (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=5640) that the script for Halo The Movie is finished and is being hyped up rather uniquely:

The latest progress on the Halo movie front involves a unique publicity stunt on Creative Artists Agency's part: copies of Alex Garland's script for the film have been delivered to movie studios by couriers dressed in full Master Chief armor. The script comes with a request for its recipients to read the draft and submit a bid for the film by the same afternoon, which could spark an instant bidding war if the gambit succeeds.

[Blue]

Am I the only one who thinks making a Halo movie is just a dumb idea? Do we really need a Halo film? Bah. Stupid humans.

I'd like bid a dollar Bob.

[Bushido]

am i the only guy that thinks that would be hilarious? and i dont even like halo.

[Klade]

Of course it will be stupid. I mean really there has never been a good video game movie and theres rarely been a good movie video game. And I trust developers a hell of lot more then I trust hollywood.

I give it about a week before they announce 'The Rock' as the master chief and I can cross another movie off my list.

[F3nyx]

Hey, The Rock was in pro wrestling, so he has to be a pretty good actor.

[Redline]

'I'd buy that for a dollar!'

[Abash Alarmist]

Chronicles of Riddick.

Bitchin game and awesome movie (personally, minus the lack of blood or violence)

[bobbler]

Hey... the rock, while it disgusts me that wrestling is so huge, is actually not a bad actor -- all his non wrestling movies have been sufficiently entertaining.

However, a Halo movie sounds no better than a Doom movie. Just seems lame.

Maybe Uwe Boll will direct it; he likes game based movies.

[Deadend]

What would a Halo movie even be about?

The books work ok, the games work great, but a movie.... no.

[Stryfe01]

Hey... the rock, while it disgusts me that wrestling is so huge, is actually not a bad actor -- all his non wrestling movies have been sufficiently entertaining.

However, a Halo movie sounds no better than a Doom movie. Just seems lame.

Maybe Uwe Boll will direct it; he likes game based movies.

I would lose all respect for bungie if they allowed the script to be sold to that disgusting animal. he desecrates everything he touches

[Blue]

Maybe Uwe Boll will direct it; he likes game based movies.

I should arrange to have you tongue cut out for that. Or at the very least, have your fingers removed. Are you trying to make the world a disgusting place? Watching his movies is like watching a fat kid eat his own face.

[Tetsuo]

Maybe Uwe Boll will direct it; he likes game based movies.
He also likes cheap movies. The cost for the rights to Halo would be several times more than he'd spend on the actual production.

[bobbler]

It was a joke guys, settle down. I hate him as much as the next guy.

[MagicAlex]

It's not like they have to try very hard. Stick a guy in a giant metal suit and CG him doing stunts. Y'know, like every cut scene in Halo 2.

[Adam Blue]

Actually the Halo storyline is vast and addictive, and if done right it could be a great way to get more story out. I am not a fan of sci-fi(save star wars), or even reading. But the Halo books were just so awesome, and there's so much more I'd like to know.

That said let's look at the movie being made. Just for the fact that Bungie and MS are both behind it I would think it would turn out good. As a first in this generation of console wars, Microsoft has not let me down once. In fact they've only been surprising me. The support and reign of control they gave Bungie is also a welcome surprise in this industry today. With that mindset I can see a Halo movie doing good. Making money out of it is obvious, but they see a bigger picture, bringing the whole universe out to different aspects of enertainment. This idea has been touched on if you recall what was said at E3.

If the Halo movie does happen, it won't be a gimmick or cash cow. It will be good.

[ldi222]

I agree, there is too much at stake and Bungie and Microsoft have enough minds like ours to make sure it appeals to us the "hardcore" which will then be the evangelists for the mainstream. If / When the HALO movie comes out Ill be there on the midnight show.

[Derwin]

Hahaha i want that suit.

[sTubbs]

The question is, will the opening day of Halo: The Movie gross more than the release date sales of Halo 2?

[Yes, I know that video games cost more than movie tickets, but still...]

[Atrapas]

Meh, crucify me if you will... But I rather liked the Rock in "Rundown". Some of his movies have blown monkeys ("Scorpion King" comes to mind), but compared to some of the other hacks out there, the guy isn't doing too badly.

As for the wrestler into moviestar comment, let us not forget the king of all wrestler/actors....

http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/mgm/the_princess_bride/_group_photos/andre_the_giant7.jpg

Regarding the studio stunt, I think it's rather unique... and uniqueness is almost always a good thing in a bland corporate world.

[outontheporch]

gay


The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters.

[outontheporch]

oh yeah and RIP Andre

[Citizen Philip]

Of course it will be stupid. I mean really there has never been a good video game movie and theres rarely been a good movie video game. And I trust developers a hell of lot more then I trust hollywood.

I give it about a week before they announce 'The Rock' as the master chief and I can cross another movie off my list.

I thought they did a really good with Resident Evil, I enjoyed that movie.

[Crabby]

I just want the Halo IP to die in a burning red pit. I was beyond it three years ago after the first one.

[riposte101]

I agree, there is too much at stake and Bungie and Microsoft have enough minds like ours to make sure it appeals to us the "hardcore" which will then be the evangelists for the mainstream. If / When the HALO movie comes out Ill be there on the midnight show.

I couldn't agree with you more. Bungie guys requested Ridley Scott. They know quality directors at least.

[if76]

I guess the fact that Bungie and Microsoft are giving movie studios less than a day to read the script for the movie really tells you where their priorities are.

[Vandenh]

The Fall of Reach would be one hell of a movie.

Anyway.. I like Garlands books so who knows... if they get a good director it could be pretty aweseome. I hunger for a good new space alien war flick.

[raVen]

I really hope that whatever it is, it's a spin-off of the Halo universe and doesn't feature MC as the main character. If he came in and kicked ass without speaking a word for 20 minutes of the film I would be quite happy, but I'm afraid that they're going to try make a cheesy action film with him as the hero.

Anyone that has listened to I Love Bees knows that the Halo universe can be used to tell a great story even when not in the hands of Bungie (and some would argue moreso).

[Heretic Machine]

They made three Halo novels that were extremly good reads, and tha is much harder than making a good movie. From what I heard, they hired someone pretty talented to write the script, and I believe it's going to turn out alright.

[bapenguin]

Yeah, the Rock is actually a decent actor. I'm kinda stoke for this, I hope they make it a pretty good "space opera."

I wonder how long it'll be till the script leaks out.

[Wadmaasi]

The books work ok
But the Halo books were just so awesome, and there's so much more I'd like to know.
They made three Halo novels that were extremly good reads
Are you guys kidding me? The Halo novelization was wretched. "The Master Chief continued on, killing a pair of Hunters, then a small group of Jackals and Grunts, and then some Flood." Repeat. (Sorta like the literary equivalent of playing The Library, come to think of it.) The extra Halo novels written by that other guy are passable, given what they are, but I couldn't believe how terrible the novelization was, and Dietz is a "real" author with his own original scifi series on the shelves for years.

If you guys want some fun, ass-kicking space-opera, go read this entire book for free: http://www.baen.com/library/0671720856/0671720856.htm

[Goronmon]

Are you guys kidding me? The Halo novelization was wretched. "The Master Chief continued on, killing a pair of Hunters, then a small group of Jackals and Grunts, and then some Flood." Repeat. (Sorta like the literary equivalent of playing The Library, come to think of it.) The extra Halo novels written by that other guy are passable, given what they are, but I couldn't believe how terrible the novelization was, and Dietz is a "real" author with his own original scifi series on the shelves for years.
I agree about Dietz's version being pretty bland at best, however, I really enjoyed the other two. Sure, they may not win any writing awards, but I think they did a great job setting up and following through with the story before and after the original game.

I'm just hoping that the movie at least follows one of the stories from with either the first or third book, or the original game, with my preference going for the first book.

Hell, if they did a good job with the first book, it would be sweet to see a sequel or even a trilogy.

IMO, Bungie and Microsoft are smart enough to realize that if they are able to push out a quality movie based on the game, it could do really well.

[Knite]

If they did a "serious" movie based on the first book, that'd be great. Nothing like hugeass space battles. Sides... I'd love to see what the MAC gun can do =)

[Blue]

If you guys want some fun, ass-kicking space-opera, go read this entire book for free: http://www.baen.com/library/0671720856/0671720856.htm

Sorry man, but my goodness was that awful. I couldn't make it past the third paragraph and when you have to re-read the opening sentence (comma much?) twice to figure out what he's trying to say, that's just a bad start to anything.

I haven't read the Halo books so I can't really say anything about that. I admit I'm curious, but I fear they'd be on par with those Resident Evil books that came out a while back. /shudders

[bapenguin]

Yeah, they definitley need to do fall of reach. It's the book with the most movie potential thanks to the character development of the master chief from child hood on. The space battles would be awesome as well.

[Wadmaasi]

Sorry man, but my goodness was that awful. I couldn't make it past the third paragraph and when you have to re-read the opening sentence (comma much?) twice to figure out what he's trying to say, that's just a bad start to anything.
I freely admit that I love huge, paragraph-spanning sentences. *heh* Your loss on the rest of the book, I guess!

[splatstick]

I freely admit that I love huge, paragraph-spanning sentences. *heh* Your loss on the rest of the book, I guess!

The grammatical errors almost made my brain explode.
HALO has such a detailed storyline that it would make a fantastic movie, if done right. I would rather see something with minor characters instead of M.C., but that's my usual prefence about anything. Unless they try to rush the movie so it's released at the same time at HALO 3, I don't think they will mess it up.
Excluding, of course, The Rock factor.
In all honesty though, since it sounds like George Lucas hasn't touched the script, I'll watch it opening day with all my rabid HALO-addicted friends.

[Justin_McElroy]

Ummm, since no one else feels like performing the thirteen keystrokes required to summon up IMDB, I'll help out, so there can actually be some relatively purposeful discussion:

Alex Garland

Writer - filmography
(In Production) (2000s)

1. Sunshine (2006) (announced)
2. The Tesseract (2003) (novel)
3. 28 Days Later... (2002) (written by)
... aka 28 Days Later (UK: closing credits title)
... aka 28 jours plus tard (France)
... aka 29 Days Later (USA: longer version)
4. The Beach (2000) (novel)

[Goronmon]

Yeah, they definitley need to do fall of reach. It's the book with the most movie potential thanks to the character development of the master chief from child hood on. The space battles would be awesome as well.
Yeah, I definately agree. IMO, the character development found in the first book would really help make the movie more than just a Starship Troopers type, pure action film.

[cppcrusader]

Mandatory Halo 2 ending comment.

I bet the ending of the movie sucks.

I know not very witty, but hey, I'm at work and don't have the time to be more witty right now.

That being said, the only way I could see this movie being even remotely decent is if they do in fact get Ridely Scott to direct.

[Mac]

What would a Halo movie even be about?

The books work ok, the games work great, but a movie.... no.

How do you know? Just because you can't envision a movie playing out well doesn't mean it can't and won't.

[MagicAlex]

If you guys want some fun, ass-kicking space-opera, go read this entire book for free: http://www.baen.com/library/0671720856/0671720856.htm

Right, because if three people like something and you don't that obviously means you have better taste.

[KNOTE]

Bungie has said all along they would only let it happen if Ridley Scott directed. I think that could be pretty cool.

[Goronmon]

How do you know? Just because you can't envision a movie playing out well doesn't mean it can't and won't.
Because showing support for something like this is the "uncool" thing to do ;)

[VirgoBlu]

I hope Bungie has enough respect for their years of hard work not to let it instantly be made moot by a Starship Troopers/Resident Evil-esque film. If the film were made in the vein of Gladiator where stunning visuals coexisted with both character and plot development this could be a fantastic film.

Speaking of Gladiator...will it be available on PSP?

[Mac]

Because showing support for something like this is the "uncool" thing to do ;)

Well, I don't know if that's the reason, but it does seem awfully closed-minded of him just to dismiss it as trash before it's even been picked up by a studio.

[Sloth]

I'm not sure what the publicity stunt is going to accomplish. Studio execs certainly aren't going to be impressed by costumes. And the general populace can't do anything about financing a movie.

Besides, if the script was written without a studio behind it, it just means it will be rewritten if a studio ever does buy it.

[Goronmon]

Well, I don't know if that's the reason, but it does seem awfully closed-minded of him just to dismiss it as trash before it's even been picked up by a studio.
Well, in general, the game to movie conversions do tend to be somewhat below average in quality, but that doesn't mean they should never try to do them. I mean, people used to say they should stop making games based on movies, but games like Chronicles of Riddick and Spiderman 2 showed everyone that it could be done.

[Plac1d]

If the acting sucks and the action rocks, then the Doom and Halo movies are gonna be sure winners. The same theory worked for Star Wars and Indiana Jones, why not now?

If *** is funding this project in any way, it could be entertaining.

Edit: ..and Starship Troopers is an awsome movie. :D

[Mac]

Well, in general, the game to movie conversions do tend to be somewhat below average in quality, but that doesn't mean they should never try to do them. I mean, people used to say they should stop making games based on movies, but games like Chronicles of Riddick and Spiderman 2 showed everyone that it could be done.

Oh, I understand that totally, but if chances were never taken, we've never have movies like Batman Begins (which, supposedly, is fantastic) after tragedies such as Batman and Robin.

[cppcrusader]

I'm not sure what the publicity stunt is going to accomplish. Studio execs certainly aren't going to be impressed by costumes. And the general populace can't do anything about financing a movie.

Besides, if the script was written without a studio behind it, it just means it will be rewritten if a studio ever does buy it.

I'll bet the executive producer for Sky Captain would disagree with you. He'll tell you that the presentation of a product can help a lot. When he recieved the tape of the short film it came in a metal case with the skull insignia, along with a 12 inch toy of one of the robots.

Something like this stunt makes the possibility of a Halo movie more than rumor, it gives the internet communities something solid to work with for buzz to start. Any studio exec with half a brain will take a look at the communities and see what kind of a buzz has started, if the response is more positive than negative then they'll be more inclined to buy the script.

[Derwin]

Halo is linked to Marathon. And to anyone who's played Marathon (Mac gamers anyone?), they know that whoever wrote the Terminal feeds in Marathon 1 and 2 were extremely talented and twisted storytellers. Anyone remember Durandal and Leela?

[Zeal]

The Marathon trilogy has one of the most complex, well-written and downright incomprehensible stories in videogame history. It's actually brilliant and fans are debating it to this day.