This report led to much rejoycing among the Bungie faithful as every bit of news got over analyzed. Many people believed that Jackson was directing, which led to many instant orgasms, but his role is more subdued at Producer. Then word came out that a first time director was picked based on commercial and short film work.

Soon the budget ballooned to upwards of $200 million. Yesterday Fox and Universal wisely pulled out of the co-financing shortly before a large payment was due for preproduction. They didn't want this extremely expensive video game movie in the hands of a first-time director. This wasn't the only factor (Microsoft wanted a huge back end profit share and up front payment for the script) but I must applaud the two studios on this decision.

Let me say this, I've probably spent more time playing Halo than any other game I've ever played. Literally every night for about 4-6 hours over the course of a year. It was an addiction that was way too fun not to satisfy. This silly sci fi game brought me together with some of my closest friends and we had a ball every time. The night before the sequel came out I couldn't sleep. Literally. This marked the first and only time this has ever happened to me.

It's no secret that, generally, video game movies suck real, real bad. They're not a big box office draw since the appeal doesn't spread much beyond the core audience of the game itself. Usually studios don't particularly care about the films but see it as a chance to make a cheap film and a quick buck. They get convinced that the built in audience will be enough to drive in ticket sales. More often than not, no one comes out happy in the end.

Fans of Halo were convinced that this time it was going to be right. That there was so much to the Halo universe that there's no way it wouldn't be good. My question is, how good is the Halo story, really? It's been my experience with video games that the stories just don't work. They're muddled, confusing, cliched and boring. Let me also say that I know from being involved in the video game community that this is not a popular opinion. Many gamers pick games to play simply based on the stories they offer. One of the reasons Halo has been so embraced by millions is because of its story, which carries over two games (with a third on the way) and four books.

Why do we need a movie? So many people seem to be in love with the story already that it almost seems like a pointless action to try and make it into a movie. More likely than not it's not going to live up to anyone's standards for what they think it should be. Leave well enough alone.

Granted Wignut Films and Weta Workshop have been doing amazing work. Yes, Peter Jackson is a self-proclaimed Halo fanatic but there are millions of people who are as well, they're just not all mega power filmmakers. There's still no guarantee that the film will be any good and that people will go see it. Overall, there's way too much risk involved for the studios and the audience. I suggest that everyone just sit back and relax until Halo 3 is unleashed upon our 360s some time soon.

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