In a surprising piece of news, based off a translated French press release, it is being reported that Steven Spielberg, one of Hollywood’s most influential filmmakers, will take the reigns and direct the video game adaptation of Halo.
The press release itself was to publicize the upcoming book, Halo: Crytum, and mentions that not only has Spielberg succeeded in getting in the director’s seat, but the movie will launch in 2012.
“A film adaptation is set in 2012. It will be conducted jointly by two heavyweights of American cinema: Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks.”
Spielberg has been interested in the franchise for quite some time, especially after reports in October of 2010 that mentioned he was thinking about making a Halo movie based on the novel source material. Considering Spielberg could get around the inevitable legal battle with Fox over the $12 million in screenwriting and production fees that the film studio invested before the project was put on ice, this may be a real possibility.
Then again, this could possibly be a misunderstanding, or bad information, but the thought that an A-list director would consider tackling such a huge franchise is rather exciting. Although, in all honesty, videogames are almost impossible to make into good movies and it would be a monumental achievement if the screen version was even on par with the original game.
That being said, if there is a director that has the resources and know-how to get this sort of project done, it’s Steven Spielberg.
What do you think? Do you want to see Spielberg direct Halo?
