So I’m sure by now all of us have had a moment to digest Peter Jackson’s recent comments surrounding the now long dead Halo movie project. Fiasco. Debacle. Well even if you haven’t, the long and the short of it is this: Fox and Universal don’t want to play by Peter’s rules, specifically in using his chosen director Neill Blomkamp, and has decided to take their hundred million dollar checks elsewhere (read: cancel the project). Being a lover of the Halo franchise, I was initially saddened by the “news” of the definitive end of the project. But after taking some time to reflect, I have to say that I think this is very good news for us Halo lovers. As I see it, there are two reasons why the definitive cancellation of the project is good news. One, nobody even has the opportunity to screw up Halo. And two, because the fruits this venture (even if unsuccessful) could be epic for geeks and sci-fi fans everywhere.

 

So to the first point of leaving videogame franchises out of films, do I even need to point to all of the crappy videogame film adaptations out there? Did any of you see Doom? Does the mere mention of the name Uwe Boll make your skin crawl? Are you tired of reading my rhetorical questions? It doesn’t take a cinematic critic of unequaled refinement to realize that it’s an understatement to say that films based on videogame franchises have been disappointing. And in this case, even when all of the players involved on a project are promising, is it too much of a leap to be thankful that the Halo franchise will remain untouched?

 

 I mean who doesn’t love Peter Jackson? The guy just emits geek cred having been a slasher film director turned Oscar winner. And when he tells you he’s a fan of gaming, you actually believe him. You know, unlike Stephen Speilberg (have you cried on level 17 yet?). The thought of Peter being in the big chair on a Halo project was enough to fulfill the wet (weta?) dreams of millions of Halo fans around the globe. But there’s something to be said about licenses that remain untouched by even the best and capable hands. Halo remaining primarily a videogame franchise is not a terrible thing in this sense. I just worry about seeing a Covenant Elite onscreen with the voice of Andy Dick. Maybe no Halo film is the best choice.

 

My second point is this, sure the Halo movie with Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp didn’t make it. But out of its ashes perhaps we will see the emergence of a phoenix in the form of new projects. We already have District 9, which has very promising aspects to it including an unabashedly sci-fi premise with gusto. Peter Jackson has gone on record to say that D-9 never would have happened were it not for the failure of the Halo collaboration. In that sense perhaps we’ll see an even more fertile sci-fi/fantasy film production environment as a result of Halo’s demise. An exciting prospect to be sure, but I’ll hold off judgment until after I’ve seen D-9 and talked about it right here on Clanofthegraywolf.com.

 

In summary, is the Halo project with Peter Jackson dead? You betcha? But maybe that’s just what the franchise and its fans needed.