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Burning Question: How did that "Halo" movie end up being sliced and diced into a Steven Spielberg Xbox series instead?

— Wallace A.

Agonizingly slowly. How's that for an answer? Think of how long it's taking Theon Greyjoy's torturers to flay him on "Game of Thrones." Then multiply that by — oh, I dunno — seven years or so.

The saga you're asking about is kind of a sad one, at least for "Halo" video game fans who have been waiting since 2005, the year that Columbia Pictures and "28 Days Later" screenwriter Alex Garland first started working on a movie script. Microsoft reportedly paid Garland a cool $1 million to write a spec screenplay that the company could take to studios.

In a much-publicized and dramatic strategy, suits at the talent agency CAA hired actors to dress up as super soldiers from the "Halo" series; deliver scripts and terms sheets to studios such as Fox; and then invite them to bid, auction-style, on the project.

One element of note: Microsoft reportedly wanted a huge, huge piece of the film's profits — specifically, according to Variety, $10 million against 15 percent of the box office gross, in addition to a $75 million "below-the-line" budget and fast-tracked production. The New York Times also reported that Microsoft wanted creative approval over director and cast; 60 first-class plane tickets for Microsoft personnel and their guests to attend the premiere; and ownership of merchandising rights.

That's an unusually generous deal compared with industry standards.

Eventually, the tale goes, two studios, Universal and Fox, partnered and took the bait. Uberdirector Peter Jackson hopped on board as a co-producer and suggested his then-protégé, budding helmer Neill Blomkamp, as the project's director. Weta Workshop, Jackson's elven factory of oddities and wonders, began to create costumes and guns and things.

But then the fall of 2006 rolled around. Development costs started to rise. Uneasy, Universal approached the producers, including Microsoft, and reportedly asked that their shares in the project be cut. And that's when the movie went to hell.

"Microsoft's unwillingness to reduce their deal killed the deal," CAA's Larry Shapiro told Wired last year. "Their unwillingness to reduce their gross in the deal meant it got too top-heavy. That movie could have been 'Avatar.'"

Jackson and Blomkamp instead turned their attention (and FX budget) to the Oscar-nominated "District 9."

So the "Halo" project floundered — that is, until late last year, when Microsoft thought it might try again. It hired a former CBS TV executive and managed to recruit Steven Spielberg to executive produce a series. The choice does have some merit; Spielberg has a track record for adapting other people's franchises (such as "Tintin"), if not a strong reputation in the world of TV. (Read: for every "Band of Brothers" and "Animaniacs" there's a "seaQuest" and "Terra Nova.")

It's not clear whether Microsoft has learned any lessons from the "Halo" movie deal debacle, whether it's figured out when to hold tight to a franchise and when to let go.

"We'll have much more to share regarding the overall creative team behind the 'Halo' television series in the future," a Microsoft spokesperson told me.

But no matter what, it's likely that the new deal grants plenty of control to the tech company.

After all, it will be released through Microsoft's upcoming Xbox model, Xbox One, and the device's online service, Xbox Live.

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/peter-jackson-long-awaited-halo-movie-morphed-steven-002413842.html

Thank god. There are like 30, (there isn't but it feels like it) game/movie adaptions that get announced or rumored every year that hardly any come to fruition... Finally Halo will be on my TV as not a game.... Not forgetting Forward Unto Dawn or Legends of course.

This will be a full-blown TV show, can't wait is an understatement.

I would prefer a movie over a TV-series. The problem with most TV-series is they never end, there's no true progression in story or character development.

I didn't like this article. What a sloppy article that couldn't even clearly inform us about the details of the MS demands for the failed Hollywood movie deal.

What does this sentence exactly mean?:

"$10 million against 15 percent of the box office gross, in addition to a $75 million "below-the-line" budget and fast-tracked production."

This journalist should be fired.

A tv series gives more room for development so that's a plus.

Here's a question though. Will the series follow its own cannon or just rehash the games.

If it makes its own story, will it be a sequel to the games, if so will it be a sequel to Halo 6 or a prequel to Halo 1 or...what?

I'm asking because the games are still going on and an adjoining tv series might mess that up.

Xbox ONE pro thread? Dead.... How sad...

I can't imagine they'll just rehash old content. Everyone that's played the games knows that story so it'd be pointless for the majority of viewers.

I suspect it'll be a story that runs parallel to the next Halo games where you have incidents that are mentioned in the game that are shown on TV and vice-versa with cameos for the odd episode or DLC. Kind of how Defiance is supposed to be but has yet to fully deliver.

That's how I'd do it anyway.

Is this the first time a game has been adapted into a serious TV series?

My automatic response to news of a movie adaptation is: it will be mediocre at best, crap at worst. That's based on a long and sad history of poorly done adaptations.

But I have no frame of reference for TV shows.

I understand that people are exited about this, but I urge caution. The road of video game adaptation to screen is paved with disappointment. So healthy skepticism is warranted here so that there is a chance fans are pleasantly surprised that the end product doesn't stink.

Best of luck.

If that's the case and Quantum Break rumoured to be running the same gambit, do you think this is going to be the norm for Microsoft in the future?

We have a game coming out and a sister tv show as well.

Nope, Mario, Zelda and Sonic have had their own

I suppose that depends on how sucessful it is. If the TV show and games boost each others sales/subscription/ad revenue, then we may well see this sort of thing in the future.

It certainly has potential for people that like to get invested into game worlds. I can just imagine the possibilities if this was around when Mass Effect started up.