When you consider how immensely popular the franchise is, it's somewhat amazing that it has taken so long to get a Halo movie into production. Albeit it would have to be on a massive scale, but lesser video game adaptations have come and gone with ease. Though the budget would be enormous, it's hard to imagine that it would fail to be successful. That's why Microsoft isn't giving up just yet.
Kotaku recently spoke with Halo Content Manager/Lead Writer/Arbiter Frank O'Connor at the Future of Television East conference last week, where he was quite blunt about the possibility of bringing the video game to the big screen: "There will be a Halo movie." He then went on to say that everyone at every level wants to see the project happen, but what caused the first effort to fall apart (the one that was to be directed by Peter Jackson) was problems with the lawyers and the fact that Microsoft holds all of the rights to the franchise, including licensing. If the movie were to be a box office bomb, a movie studio would rely heavily on licensing for DVDs and various products like toys, which they wouldn't see any money from because they didn't hold the rights. Naturally, this caused the studio to balk and negotiations fell through.
Failing to make a movie, however, O'Conner also suggested the possibility of a television series on a pay-cable network like HBO or Showtime. Said O'Conner, "We'd love to see Halo as a television series. Look what HBO did with Band of Brothers or even Rome. Something like that would work because the Halo universe is so vast." At the same time, O'Conner favors the idea of a movie above all else. "There will be a Halo movie," O'Conner said. "We don't need a movie. But we'd like a movie. We'd like the moms of gamers to see the movies because they would love our characters. Maybe we'll even fund it ourselves."
Frankly, I've always wondered why Microsoft hasn't thought about that final idea more seriously. It's not as though Microsoft is some hole-in-the-wall development company. There's little doubt that they could not only raise the required $150-200 million required to make the film and big corporations love synergy. I wouldn't be surprised at all if down the line I write a headline that reads "Microsoft Planning Production Company, Halo Movie First Priority."
