British Novelist Chosen to Pen Halo Movie
Posted on August 24, 2005
The Telegraph reports that British novelist Alex Garland has been selected to write the screenplay for the highly-anticipated film adaptation of the popular computer game, Halo. He picked up a sizeable paycheck (over $1 million) to do so.
His script features the hero of Microsoft's Xbox series, Master Chief, a genetically enhanced super-soldier, fighting to save mankind from an alien alliance known as the Covenant.Garland is the son of The Daily Telegraph's cartoonist Nicholas Garland, and is an avid gamer. He adapted his own novel, The Beach, into the hit film which starred Leonardo di Caprio. Garland will write the script, with Fox, Universal and Microsoft executives breathing down his neck: they all get creative input, which sounds like a writer's nightmare. Still, for a Jurassic-sized salary, who minds a few helpful "notes"?The pages have already been presented to Universal and Fox in a deal to produce what Microsoft envisages as a money-spinner for Mr Gates, whose Seattle-based empire has made more than £350 million from the game.
Microsoft is reportedly using its commercial muscle to persuade the two studios to spend at least £42 million on the film, with guarantees of extensive consultation on the project.
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The idea is to synchronise the summer 2007 release of Halo with the issue of a new version of the game, which could coincide with the launch of a new version of Sony's PlayStation.