Report: Spielberg In Talks to Produce Halo Movie

Film site IESB is reporting that Steven Spielberg is in "active negotiations" to produce a film based on the Halo franchise.

Specifically, Spielberg is said to be "blown away" by screenwriter Stuart Beattie's (Pirates of the Caribbean, Collateral) recent spec script based on the Eric Nyland novel "Halo: The Fall of Reach."

"Reach" serves as a prequel to the original Halo game, explaining the origins of the Spartan soldiers and Halo hero Master Chief.

The first effort to produce a Halo movie was headed up by Peter Jackson and District 9 director Neil Blomkamp. Announced in 2006, the project was put on indefinite hold in 2008.

Earlier this year, Latino Review posted a spoiler-filled synopsis of Beattie's "Reach" script, which can be read below:

The script is, first and foremost, a character-driven story about a soldier named John who was kidnapped or "conscripted" by the UNSC when he was just six years old, and then brutally trained to become an elite Spartan warrior known as Master Chief 117.

The script then takes us through the horrific first contact with the Covenant hordes on the doomed colony world of Harvest, and then climaxes with the spectacular fall of the UNSC forward base on Reach, during which every other Spartan is slaughtered.

The script also gives detailed outlines for the second movie, HALO: RISE OF THE FLOOD, which takes place entirely on the Halo ringworld, and the third and final movie, HALO: BATTLE FOR EARTH, which roughly follows the events of Halo 3, the game.

One cool advantage of this first script is that (like the shark in JAWS) you don't even see the Covenant until halfway through the movie. And because all the creatures are CGI creations, this cuts the budget down dramatically and makes a first Halo movie that much more viable. For Halo fans, it's like the prequel that provides all the answers to questions they've thought about for years. For non Halo fans, it's an exciting action movie that provides a clear, concise introduction to a world five hundred years in the future with relatable characters and a terrifying alien menace.