Microsoft's Halo franchise development director Frank O'Connor said last week that there will be a Halo movie.
During a brief interview after the Future of Television East conference, O’Connor told Kotaku that the previous movie project with Peter Jackson fell apart because of the lawyers involved. Everyone wanted to do the movie--Jackson, the executive producers, Microsoft--however things fell apart when the lawyers went behind closed doors with the contracts.
Ultimately it was a rights/profits issue--Microsoft owns all the rights to Halo, and the movie studio wouldn't make any money beyond what the film racked in at the box office. O’Connor said that Hollywood studios expect to make money even if the movie tanks in theaters, earning revenue through DVD sales and licensing products. Those avenues weren't open with Halo, so the project fizzled out.
Immediately before the interview, a "high-level" network producer came up to O’Connor and said that the network wanted to do something with Halo. O’Connor quickly replied with "Bring piles of money." The network executive was reportedly taken aback but conceded with a "for Halo, we will."
During the interview, O’Connor touched on the whole TV series aspect, pointing to how HBO did Band of Brothers and Rome. A TV series would offer a deeper narrative than a movie, exploring the Halo franchise's many facets. It would also need writers and directors familiar enough with the subject to keep it afloat and not create a half-season bomb.
Still, Microsoft wants a Halo movie, even if it means funding the flick with MS Points. "There will be a Halo movie," he said. "We don't need a movie. But we'd like a movie. We'd like the moms of gamers to see the movies because they would love our characters. Maybe we'll even fund it ourselves."
Wait, he said movies. Does O'Connor plan to make a trilogy?
