Yes, the rumours can finally be put to rest. Peter Jackson is most definitely not directing the Halo movie. And neither is Uwe Boll.
Now that you’ve breathed a huge sigh of relief over that second one, perhaps you’d care to meet the man who is directing the movie? Chosen by Jackson and Fran Walsh – who are producing the Halo adaptation – that man is Neill Blomkamp.
Who he, we hear you cry? Blomkamp is best known for his acclaimed short film Alive In Joburg, which took a crafty look at refugee mistreatment through the eyes of some decidedly out of town arrivals. If you want to watch the superb short, it’s online here .
Yet most people will probably know him for the Citroen C4 ad, in which one of the cars transforms into a dancing robot. Thanks to the magic of YouTube, anyone who hasn’t caught it can se it here . Oh, and he was nominated for an Emmy for visual effects work on James Cameron’s Dark Angel TV show.
He’ll shoot Halo – which will take its story from the game’s plot of a group of surviving human soldiers taking on a powerful alien race – in New Zealand, making use of Jackson’s studio set up and Weta’s talents. Jackson's release states: "As a gaming fan, I'm excited to bring Halo's premise, action and settings to the screen with all the specificity and reality today's technology can provide. Fran and I are intrigued by the unique challenges this project offers, and we're delighted to be working again with our friends at Universal, and with our new ones at Fox and Microsoft. With Neill on board, I'm even more excited by the potential of this project."
