After the massive, genre defining success that was the Halo series, a movie adaptation seemed like a no brainer. However, after years of development, the project simply fell apart, with the creative team going their separate ways.
Most people seem to agree that the pieces for a great Halo movie were there. Director Neill Blomkamp was experimenting with live action Halo short films, the legendary Peter Jackson was on board as the producer, while Bungie and Microsoft seemed absolutely ecstatic about the possibilities. Unfortunately, after a series of budget and content concerns, the project more or less fell to pieces. On the upside, Blomkamp and Jackson took that interest in sci-fi and went on to make the Academy Award nominated District 9, so it wasn't a total loss.
At a recent press event for Neill Blomkamp's second film Elysium, IGN reports that the director had some interesting words to say about his former project. Blomkamp was asked if he would ever consider working on an adaptation or sequel, which prompted him to bring up Halo.
"I still really love the world and the universe and the mythology of Halo. If I was given control, I would really like to do that film," Blomkamp said. "But that's the problem. When something pre-exists, there's this idea of my own interpretation versus 150 other people involved with the film's interpretation of the same intellectual property. Then the entire filmgoing audience has their interpretation. You can really live up to or fail in their eyes. That part isn't appealing to me, but the original pieces are appealing."
"Then there's a few pieces of cinema history that I like so much," he continued. "I don't know if I could be involved with them, but there's iconic characters out there that I really like and would love to get closer to and make a film about. When I start dipping my toes into it, I get this allergic reaction. Maybe one day I'll end up doing something like that."