Rumors are ugly, vicious beasts. They raise our hopes with wild speculation, hopes which are all too frequently dashed beneath the cold, harsh light of reality. Still, a brother can dream, right? Remember when, a couple weeks back, I started frothing at the mouth over a spec script that "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" writer Stuart Beattie had written for "Halo: Fall of Reach"? Well there have been some developments, it seems.
For those who don't know, writing something like a script on "spec" means that you're doing it on your own time and with no certainty of actually selling the thing. In Beattie's case, he's a dedicated gamer who sees a lot of potential in the "Halo" franchise. Hollywood is rife with gamers these days, but few are higher-profile than "Boom Blox" producer and blockbuster originator Steven Spielberg. As this rumored luck should have it, Spielberg read Beattie's script and was "blown away" by it.
"Halo" was previously in the hands of Peter Jackson, who was going to produce the video game adaptation with newcomer Neill Blomkamp at the helm. Despite Blomkamp's months of prep work, "Halo" fell apart for a variety of reasons. Not that anyone should be complaining, as the loss of that project pushed Blomkamp and Jackson into next week's surefire summer favorite, "District 9."
The rumor comes to us via IESB, who cite an unnamed source. Spielberg and Beattie are both repped by Creative Artists Agency, so there's already an easy connection. The site reportedly triple-checked the information with "studio executives" and "close ties to CAA," so the info certainly seems legit. Especially since Beattie and Spielberg appear to be kindred spirits on the interactive entertainment front.
All I'm saying is that this had better be accurate. As a lover of the blockbuster in all of its terrible glory, Spielberg is a bit of an icon to me. It was enough to know that he was dipping his hands into gaming via a partnership with Electronic Arts, the collaboration that gave us "Boom Blox." This "Halo" thing though... wow. Let's just hope he zips through "Harvey" quickly enough that he'll be free to direct it. That's a "Halo" movie I want to see.
What do you make of this news? Can Spielberg do game adaptations right on film, where so many have failed before him?
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