NEWS | Halo Dropped!

In a shocking development, Fox and Universal, the two studios teaming up to co-finance the big-screen adaptation of HALO, have abruptly pulled out of the production. There was no official word from the studios as rumors raged from a budget soaring well north of the originally agreed upon $135 million, concerns over first-time director Neill Blomkamp and disputes over profit participation. At the center was an October 15th deadline at which point Fox and Universal were to pay Microsoft the bulk of $5 million for rights to the script. For likely numerous reasons, the two studios confronted Microsoft and Peter Jackson and asked them to reduce their profit participation (Microsoft alone was scheduled to receive 10% of gross). According to Jackson's rep, he and Microsoft respectfully declined leading to the exit of the studios. Normally the movie would put a project like HALO in significant peril, but because pre-production is being done at Jackson's Weta Workshop, work will continue. Microsoft is currently looking for new partners and is reportedly also in talks with other production partners (numerous studios passed on HALO during its original offering).

Source | JoBlo