Studios pull out of Microsoft Halo movie

Stan Beer
Saturday, 21 October 2006 17:38

IT Industry - Strategy

Major movie studios Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox have pulled the plug on their financial backing of the planned film adaptation of the popular Microsoft video game Halo. However, Microsoft plans to soldier on, saying it is negotiating with new backers.

The studios were reportedly not satisfied with the financial arrangements, which were risk free for Microsoft.

What has said to be mystifying to many studios is why Microsoft feels it needs any backers at all to make a film that would barely put a dent in its multi-billion dollar bank account.

Halo and Halo 2, initially developed by Microsoft's Bungie Studios for Xbox, are two of the most popular series of video games of all time. Halo 3 for Xbox 360 is due for release in 2007. There are also Halo games for the PC and Mac platforms.

Microsoft believes the Halo brand will be enough to guarantee the movie's success. The movie, if successful, could in turn be a great marketing tool for Microsoft to entice new gamers into the market and generate further sales of the games and Xbox 360 consoles.

Lord of the Rings pair Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh will be executive producers and the film will be made at their studios in New Zealand.