Director Peter Jackson, executive producer of the heavily anticipated Halo movie, has taken some heavy frag damage from Universal and Fox Studios. The two giant film houses have decided to pull their support of the movie, citing rising costs associated with production, which has been estimated as pushing the $200 million mark, and concerns over Jackson,s choice for a director-the inexperiencedNeil Blomkamp.
Jackson, in spite of the movie studio,s worries, expressed his confidence in his selection of Blomkamp in August by saying, "[It,s] very, very different from what people are imagining, from what people have seen before… It’s fantastic stuff. I mean, I look through it and I get excited about the film,” according to Ain,t It Cool News.
Although Jackson,s support of Blomkamp is unwavering, the credentials of the new director were not strong enough to convince the major movie executives that he was capable of the huge task. Blomkamp,s previous experience was as a 3D animator on the television shows, Stargate and Smallville. The only experience he has in film making was his production of a short Halo-like feature named, Alive in Joburg.
Ken Kamins, Jackson,s agent at International Creative Management gave the official word on what transpired, "What happened was this: Universal, on behalf of both studios, asked for a meeting with the filmmakers just prior to the due date of a significant payment. Basically, they said that in order to move forward with the film, the filmmakers had to significantly reduce their deals. They waited until the last minute to have this conversation. Peter and Fran, after speaking with their producing partners and with Microsoft and Bungee [sic], respectfully declined,” according to Variety.
Although the rug has been pulled out from under Jackson and his co-executive producers, the film can still continue with production, although it will be extremely difficult until they receive support from another studio willing to believe in the film, and in Blomkamp.
