Ex Machina’s Director Wrote This Famously Canceled Sci-Fi Video Game Adaptation

Before was “Super Mario Bros.,” or “Minecraft movie,” or “Assassin’s Creed “movieThere was “Halo: a movie”. Or at least it was supposed to be there. When Xbox’s premiere video game franchising and one of the most revolutionary first-person shooters in the 21st century to develop, rich Lore and expressive world planning, “Halo: Combat Evolved” was an immediate crush. There were tons of cinemas in the game with respectful views and unique taking into the classic “Space Marines vs. aliens” genres, and became an obvious candidate for Hollywood.

At this point, video games adaptations were mostly a joke. They were mostly seen by a small budget Schlock, which hardly resembled their source material. With the “Halo” app, Microsoft hoped to change it, and their first step was to bring Alex Garland, who later continued direct projects, such as the 2014 “ex machina”. At that point he was the most famous of writing Danny Boyle Modern Horror Classic “28 days later” And he was given the task of writing the “Halo” manuscript on a great seven -digit payday. But the world of movie development is never straight, and with the stakes so high, the pressure was on.

Garland’s manuscript that You can read hereBased on the aesthetic war film of the original game, dropping the audiences straight into the middle of the battle against the religious zealotts between the union. The manuscript itself has the efficiency of Spartans with prose, but for anyone who is not even familiar with the “halo” -to -a – – – – –ce and and in practice, it needs a vocabulary to understand. Without an explanation of what the “Warthog vehicle” is, it is easy to imagine that some confused studio heads ask their trainee why this soldier drives into a giant wild pig.

Microsoft, on the other hand, was optimistic about the film’s views. The company’s offer from the studio to the project was $ 10 million of 15% of the movie’s gross, which means that the film’s producing studio will receive a relatively small proportion of the actual profits. Most studios flashed, with the exception of 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures, which came together in the burden. Then Peter Jackson joined the producer as Guillermo del Toro tours the project before the newcomer Neill Blomkamp signed the film as director.

There was such a high sticker in the studio in the project, it offered the team an ultimatal: drop their “first dollar” income store or the project was over. They refused, and “Halo: The movie” was dead. But just like “Halo”, the team replied to continue the battle.

Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp continued Surprise hit “District 9”which continues to nominative to four Oscars, while Alex Garland built his impressive career as a writer, first by continuing to work in a science fiction state by injecting Danny Boyle Criminally understood “sunshine”. Then when he was set to adapt to “Dredd” Garland announced that he had received his first taste as a film directorAnd since then, it would continue to guide, help science fiction, including “ex machina” and “destruction”.

Microsoft, for his part, continued his effort to do something flagship from his video game, producing a handful Directly video-live action and animated “halo” projects Before you finally publish a lot of its popular premium-streaming series for Paramount+. The two seasons of the program tried to distinguish themselves from the games but only received mixed reviews Before cancellation in 2024, almost 20 years after Garland wrote his original manuscript.

It only shows that even if the master manager could take the covenant alone, he is still not a match for Hollywood producers.