After seemingly over the top demands for their hit franchise's big screen debut, Microsoft may have just found a suitor for its Halo movie. Reports now indicate that Universal and Fox are close to signing a deal to produce the Master Chief's epic odyssey.
Many major Hollywood studios balked at the idea, citing Microsoft's extremely high budget demands. Such demands included a $75m budget (excluding actor and crew wages), a $10m upfront payment, 60 first class plane tickets to the premiere location for Microsoft staff, 15 percent of the film's gross earnings, and total creative control over the project.
Under the proposed deal, Universal would get production and North American distrobution rights, while Fox would get overseas rights to the film and input in the production process.
It is important to note that while the deal is near completion there are still potential roadblocks to overcome. Microsoft is also demanding that the $1m script written by 28 Days Later writer Alex Garland remain untouched, and that everything must comply with the Halo universe that game developer Bungie created; all overseen by a Microsoft observer.
Ultimately, all of these elements should come together to form a movie that fans of the games should love. With every production process being under such tight scrutiny from the minds behind Halo, everything should be instantly recognizable, rather than a mere shell of a game franchise simply licensed to sell tickets.
News source: GamesIndustry.biz
