@Awoken: Fake? it's concept art, nothing more.

Luke Plunkett

Unless Microsoft pony up all the development money for this film, I just don't see any studio wanting this. Like it or not, the audience for the novels is miniscule compared to the people familiar with the Halo games-- and to turn those people into Halo movie fans, the film needs Master Chief, Cortana, and all the other paper-thin crap that was in the games. Just like no studio would greenlight a Batman film that focused on Lucius Fox and didn't actually have Batman in it, no studio is going to want to commit hundreds of millions of dollars to a Halo movie that has to do with a story only a small percentage of the Halo fanbase gives a shit about. Hollywood is more risk averse than the game industry-- they greenlight ONLY what they think they can sell... and Microsoft aren't Hollywood power brokers. They don't have the clout to tell a film studio, you guys can make this film, as long as it's about this story that isn't directly connected to the actual popular aspects of the Halo IP. Hollywood will tell Microsoft to get the fuck out.

wild homes knows where the barrio starts!

@Guitaratomik:

I completely forgot about the novels, but would that even help for a movie storyline? It's basically side stories...

@RonCey:

Yes, it did and it should have stopped on the original movie. That second movie was horrible... I still need to see the third one though...

akumaserge

@Cultivar: Look at it this way--the USAF plans to keep the B-52 in service until 2040. That's nearly 100 years after it was first introduced, all the way back in 1955.

Trust me--there are probably going to be many more things to nitpick over other than Pelicans.

JustThisGuy

@akumaserge:

Man, if the Halo movie is even half as good as Starship Troopers that would be fucking sweet.

RonCey

@akumaserge:

All the story is really in the books. The games actually do a horrible job of presenting the story and lore.

Guitaratomik

I hope this comes out but it smells like a fake.

Awoken

@Cultivar:

It doesn't have to be rusty, they could just produce the same Pelican for 40 years with minor changes, think AK-47, Jeep, etc.

artistpavel

Would Halo even be able to transition well into a movie?

I know I'll get flamed for this, but halo's storyline kinda sucks. The first one was good, second one eh.. and third one was more like "...What?" If anything a halo movie would probably be like Starship troopers.

And with that *readies his flame shield*

akumaserge

Awesome but until Microsoft stops their bullshit this will never get made.

GreyFoxV1

@Cultivar:

Good point, I always look for continuity details. On the other hand, most apocalyptic movies feature current day cars, logically that's because the civilization stops progressing during the war for survival (in movies this trick is used for product placing really).

artistpavel

so the movie is based on fall of reach?? cause if it is then hell yeah cause that was a hell of a novel. hope they bring it to life and its not a huge flop.

Milkzhakes

Needs more Persians-- I mean, needs more Jake Gyllenhaal. Actually, here is what you do to get me excited about this-- scrap all this Halo crap, and replace it with some Syd Mead and Ralph McQuarrie artwork, and then we'll talk. Halo would make an awfully boring movie: make the sci-fi film that WORKS, and not the sci-fi film you shoehorn into a Halo adaptation.

wild homes knows where the barrio starts!

I hope that the letter means that this project actually has a chance.

cmonty06

Other then the Pelican in the background you could pass that artwork off as Concept art for any war film.

Emiat

It looks like one of those uber-dramatic U.S. Army propaganda commercials.

archibaldleech

Totally awesome.
I thought Fall of Reach was the best book of the halo trilogy.
It's going to be CRAZY if they show the spartans during their enhancement period.

pulyx

These are the kidnapped children at the start of the spartan program yes?

Question: If we say that's 35-40 years prior to actual Halo, how come the pic has a pelican dropship that looks the same in it? No wonder humanity got its ass kicked if theyre flying rustbuckets.

Cultivar

@freakout:

Well that sucks :(

LittleBigPlaneteer

lol@ Microsoft's Cease and Desist letter. It's like they're new to the internet or something.

LittleBigPlaneteer

@LittleBigPlaneteer: Although presumably there won't be any scenes of Spartans blowing their own heads off with a shotty..

freakout

That's pretty tight stuff there. I really want this movie to be good, if it ever comes out

Ahsayuni

It's like those training scenes from Full Metal Jacket, but more sci-fi and stuff!

LittleBigPlaneteer

Better than the previous Flying Spartans concept art.

Littlefields

@gabelogan: ". The drawings - by artist Kasra Farahani - are depicting some of the key scenes from writer Stuart Beattie's (Pirates of the Caribbean, GI Joe) screenplay, which in turn is based on the events in the novel Fall of Reach."

Yeah.
I heard the book is good, or at least decent, so we could get lucky.

tsathoggua

Why wouldn't the kids be wearing boots at least.

JUBEI21

The overall pic is nice, but I hate the uniforms the kids are wearing. It looks like a friggin playground. If you read the book, you would know that it was far from it.

JUBEI21

i always felt the story was somewhat weak (not that its horrible i just don't know if it could hold its own with a movie) in halo (only played the first one on pc) but i heard the story is pretty good in the halo books that are out so is the movie based on the games or the books?

gabelogan

@JustThisGuy: Halo, a GOOD sci-fi picture? It is too late for me, son. The Emperor is your master, now.

In all seriousness, though, you're right. Halo will probably be an absolute cheesefest. I just hope at some point all the Spartans pop their helmets off to reveal flowing, golden mullets. Then they hop into Warthogs, pop open some ice cold wine coolers, turn up the Duran Duran, and run the Covenant the hell over.

MASTER CHIEF HAS JUST MUD-BOGGED ALL OVER YOUR ALIEN ASS, IS THIS AWESOME (Y/N)?

wild homes knows where the barrio starts!

@JustThisGuy: The B52 comparison is an apt one, but it's worth pointing out that had successive administrations not utterly ruined the project to develop the B1-- ultimately leading to that plane's final introduction as a poorly focused aircraft extremely lacking in the versatility that was the original hallmark of the defense initiative that spawned its creation-- the B52 would have been mothballed decades ago. And, by 2040 we'll very much be looking at those things, flying overhead, as we'd look at a Harmon Wasp today. Wondering why they're not in a museum.

wild homes knows where the barrio starts!

@akumaserge: Let me save you the trouble. The third one is, inconceivably, exponentially worse than the second one. It's like it achieved the perfect platonic ideal of pure SUCK. You don't ask much from a franchise like Starship: some bugs, some guns, some bloody deaths, and some tongue-in-cheek B-movie humor, right? But they not only managed to fail miserably, they somehow managed to make the second film look like a work of goddamn genius.

@wild homes knows where the barrio starts!: But then we'd get a sci-fi film that might be good, and who the hell wants that, right? You have to admit, a Halo film has the potential for some absolutely cheese-tastic goodness. Get Verhoeven and/or those guys that made the first three Critters flicks onboard and sign me the fuck up, I'd say. Barring that, I'd gladly accept the director of Jason X or the dude that did Leprechaun in Space.

JustThisGuy

Some cool concept art. Hopefully this movie gets a chance.

SolidEyeSystem

@LittleBigPlaneteer: Still, you have deformed children who couldn't take the augmentation to look forward to! And don't forget the scene where the guy testing the first suit actually kills himself with his own writhing from the pain. God damn, if that would be in a movie, ticket sold. The books are actually pretty harsh to kids, like as if the writers have had kids.

Erwin

@Emiat: yeah, you kinda have a point there. the pelican and that faint stadium in the distance.

ruba-dub-dub

Y'know, that's some pretty cool concept art, and it gives some nice nostalgia to the awesome book this would be based off of. Does that mean the movie would be good? Probably not, but it's still a highly interesting prospect.

Xenigma

You can tell who John is in the hi def picture...the dark haired pale boy reaching for the bell in the back center...

that gets my fanboy all giddy it's a great visualization for me from when they were training in the books as children...awesome concept art...even if that's all it ever becomes it's really well done...

Ibramgaunt

@juicebytim: ilovebees (or "The Haunted Apiary") would be a kickass cyperpunk movie.

Spiffyness

@gabelogan: Rumor has it, this new movie script is based on the first book, called The Fall of Reach, which depicts the development of the Spartan Program in which kids are kidnapped, flash-cloned, and turned into super-soldiers. One of these kids ends up being the main character of the Halo games.

The book is actually very good; it starts off when young MC (named John) is age 5 or so, then skips through various points of his training, with the climax of the novel being, fittingly, "The Fall of Reach." Reach is the largest Human colony and its "fall" is the event that immediately precedes the first Halo game.

If done right, it could make a fantastic movie, although it would be rather Ender's Game-ish.

Spiffyness

This is what a Halo movie should be about... not all shooting things and blowing stuff up. Yes, I know that's mainly what the game is, but ilovebees was awesome because it told other stories that were happening during the Halo war, but with "normal" people living in that time.

juicebytim

Wow that looks great. Just looking at the picture gives a new way to look at Halo and that is cool.

BlackIceJoe

@akumaserge:

Some of them are essentially, but the one this script is based on (Fall of Reach) is like the Spartan origin story. They don't even get the armor until about 2/3rds in to the book. It's actually really interesting (to me at least) and honestly you could probably make two movies out of it with the amount of material in there.

Guitaratomik

@wild homes knows where the barrio starts!: Because I love you, and just because I happened to be working on a picture of Duran Duran for work...

OMG SPARTAN IDENTITIES REVEALED!

JustThisGuy

Im glad Fall of Reach is how they are handling it, its a fine book and fills in the backstory admirably for the unfamiliar masses.

Dejanus

@wild homes knows where the barrio starts!:
Not really. Movies suck when they try to "imitate" the book or game / w/e. It has to be based on it and find its own sauce.

gothamdarkknight

@Milkzhakes:
Yea, I read the sypnosis and it looks like the plot has a high potential for a movie script.

gothamdarkknight

@JustThisGuy: ZOINKS! Kotaku hasn't seen that much sex-- or that many spoilers-- in one picture since, well, ever.

See him running gun in hand across the bridge at midnight,
Brutes looking as the lights flashing out it's so bright,
Then run right out to the Warthog track,
There's a carbine aiming at his back, at his back,
And I hear the gunner gunning in a frenzy all the way down the line,

SPARTANS ON FILM,
SPARTANS ON FILM,
SPARTANS ON FILM.

Fuck, there is no way this movie will not make a billion dollars.

wild homes knows where the barrio starts!

@wild homes knows where the barrio starts!: The Fall of Reach does feaure all the characters from the game. You've got Master Chief's and Cortana's origin stories, as well as all the background to the Human/Covenant conflict. Not to mention a shitload of BIG moments that would look great on screen.

Actually, I reckon making FOR first would be a better idea than skipping straight to the first Halo game. 'cause it puts it all in context and gives you more of a reason to care why this weird dude is slaughtering all those aliens while taking to a computer on a weird ring thing.

Plus, considering the first game's "everybody dies" ending, it's really more suited to a second-in-the-trilogy, Empire Strikes Back position that first cab off the rank.

End two cents!

freakout

@gothamdarkknight: If you were in any way interested in making the film GOOD, sure. But if you're talking about getting your picture greenlit with the kind of budge you want to see to justify making this game into a film in the first place, then you identify very cleary what people in your target audience expect to see when they shell out for tickets. Which is Master Chief, Cortana, and the other game-crap. And then, you make a movie that sells those ideas. You don't go off and tell some tangential story-- because your film is nothing more than a popcorn flick anyhow, and if you can't sell this thing as being identifiably Halo in a sixty second trailer, the ADHD generation aren't going to buy it. So this film has to be immediately recognisable as Halo-- and that means Master Chief, or teabagging someone while a fourteen year-old gangster tells you how awesome your mom was in bed last night. And while the second is more entertaining, I'm guessing they're going to opt for that stoic Master Chief dude.

wild homes knows where the barrio starts!

@wild homes knows where the barrio starts!: This guy didn't read the book.

belo

@wild homes knows where the barrio starts!: I can imagine a bitchin' trailer for a Halo: FoR movie in under sixty seconds.

*show Keyes flip a coin, young MC/John snatches it out of the air*
Keyes (narration): Can this boy choose his own luck?
*show a montage of scenes of the book that involved John going on a mission, with a close-up of his helmet, changing from training gear, to operations armor, to spec-ops gear, to finally a MJOLNIR suit, with the battle raging in the glare from the visor*
John (narration between each scene): I've been training... For all my life... For this one moment... To preserve humanity...
*one more scene slides into view on MJOLNIR visor, the first Halo; the familiar theme music plays; scene fades to black, and the Halo sign comes into focus, with the movie release date*

That should turn heads, if only because the music will cue that it's FREAKIN' HALO, MAN.

Paladin58

DUDES IN A PLAYGROUND WITH SPACESHIP!
schwing.

kyle

@JustThisGuy: No that I have seen it, I cannot unseen it.

Theres a lot of ideas flying around the Halo universe that I have seen somewhere else on sci-fi before.

I hope the movie is better then the original Starship Troopers, wich was in it self a very underated masterpiece.

Shiryu

The Halo story is much more complex than people think. If you read the novels you will know what I am talking about. The picture with the children in it are the chosen Spartan II's who were kidnapped and put through a tough training regime. They then go on to have biological enhancement operations to improve their strength, stamina, reflexes, etc....

craigyhaitch_94

@Cultivar:
You can say that its 35/40 years prior to halo. but you'd be wrong.

The events of Halo: First contact, happen no more than 15 years before halo.

iDeNoh

@iDeNoh: The Spartan II program was started in response to instability within the UNSC. They were later adapted to fight the Covenant as insurrections became a minor occurrence what with genocidal war and such.

.endejas.

Interesting. I hope this movie will hurry up and get funded. I mean it amazes me that a Gears movie is being made before this.

Paradyme

Is the Gears movie going to be based on the first game?? I'm only asking because Gears doesn't need to be true to the story as much as Halo needs to be, I mean, all you expect is stereos on guys chests and exploding heads.

And I agree that Fall of Reach would be the coolest SciFi war movie I would ever see, but the movie needs to be directed by Peter Jackson so it's cool, true to the story, and 4 hours long to fit the events of Halo 1 in there somewhere...

CANADIANSILV3R

This is annoying. I wanted the Bloenkamp/Jackson movie not this thing. Ugh.

JakeK812

This scene is from the book Halo: The Fall of Reach. In this scene small children are worked to the bone to see if they can handle extreme training to become an elite fighter. One of them in the soon-to-be Master Chief.

Quicksilver4648

Unfortunately, the whole first two acts of the novel and subsequent film feel very much like Paul WS Anderson's "Soldier", which was silly. I love me some Halo, but a "Soldier" retread (young boy taken and brutally trained as a supersoldier) makes me whimper in trepidation.

SenorChefy

@iDeNoh: Fall of Reach does start 35 years before the games. First Strike occurs in the time between Halo:CE and Halo 2.

shini

That looks like the US Border and that "Latino Review" sign isn´t helping a lot :P...Anyway, i don´t know if i would want this movie made, yeah, is great Hollywood material, but the casting would be really tough (i hate Peter Jackson) and that may end fucking things up...

Daisuash

Ah, i remember this, teams of three forced to work together in order to overcome various obstacles and ultimately ring a bell on top of a pole.

I gotta say i am really looking forward to this one.

KilOMisFit

@iDeNoh: You're wrong. I'll leave you to figure out the details.

Cultivar

@shini:
it seems you're right! I guess I was thinking of the master chiefs age in the middle of the book. anyways, these pictures are just artist an artists rendition of the movie. They might even look the same to the "current day" pelicans, but with updated technology, I mean, its obvious that its a pretty reliable/useful platform. either way, I'm looking forward to seeing this movie lift off...hopefully.

iDeNoh

@Cultivar:
this is the military we are talking about, we still have ships/fighter jets/and other things still in service from the late 70-80s

phatnacky

i feel like such a dork knowing that thats the obstacles course from the beginning of The Fall Of Reach, were all the young spartan solders/children first trained.

phatnacky

On the right, the third soldier climbing the ropes looks like a ninja schoolgirl.

Elepgant

Nice of 'em to put their watermark on their illegally obtained images.

Jonn

@Elepgant: actually, everyone on the ropes look like kids. What's going on here?

@1Grand_Marquis:

Maybe it's a photo of North Korea's military training camp. OH snap!

Elepgant

the game concept... meh. As a movie... trite. There I said it.

DORKRAWR

Hmm, from what I see is lots of small children about to be turned into chinese sweatshop laborers/sex slaves.

Greencacktus

Interesting that the Marines in this picture are still wearing MARPAT Camo, which was developed in the late 1990s. You guys wanna complain about the Pelican? We're talking centuries-old uniforms!

wutzu