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District 9: The Movie That Replaced Halo

Here's what Peter Jackson and director Neill Blomkamp got up to, after production of the Halo movie fell through.

Remember when there was going to be a Halo movie, with Peter Jackson executive-producing and his hand-picked director Neill Blomkamp at the helm? Most of you probably recall the tangled web that became the aborted film's production cycle, which mostly came down to ballooning budgets and other financial issues, but if you don't, here's the quick synopsis straight from the Wikipedia article.

In 2005, a script for a film adaptation of Halo was written by Alex Garland—which D. B. Weiss and Josh Olson rewrote during 2006—for a 2008 release. The movie was to be developed and released by 20th Century Fox, under the creative oversight of Microsoft. Peter Jackson was slated to be the executive producer, with Neill Blomkamp as director. Before Blomkamp signed on, Guillermo del Toro was in negotiations to direct. The crew has stopped and resumed preproduction of the film several times; while Blomkamp has declared the project dead, Jackson says the film will still be made.

Jackson and Blomkamp didn't part ways when Halo fell apart, though. Instead, they made a long-form version of the short film that got Blomkamp noticed in the first place, Alive in Joberg. The full trailer for that movie, District 9, was just released. So while it's not Halo, it's at least gives you some sense of the combined creative talents that would have brought Master Chief to the screen... or still might, if Jackson is right.
 
  


Just for the sake of comparison, here's a link to Alive in Joberg, which apparently impressed Jackson so much in the first place.

Do you think Halo will ever get made? Seems like a toss-up to me, at this point.

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100 Comments

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THANATOS899

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Edited By THANATOS899

District 9 is way better then Halo, halos story is rushed and has too many holes

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JammyDixon

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Edited By JammyDixon

This looks like a great film, i really hope they make a halo move but try and keep it the same story line as the game because most films that are made from a game has nothing to do wih anything about the game all they do is keep the names right and change the story around, thats most proberly why most of the films of the game suck! i love the halo games but i dont uderstand why make more of them if the story ended tbh. anyway i hope they make a halo film it would be amazing, peter jackson's films always are.
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OroYoke

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Edited By OroYoke

Actually Peter Jackson didnt want to part with Neil Blomkamp in directing is first movie.  District 9 was his Blomkamp chance and look what happened.

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kermoosh

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Edited By kermoosh

halo looks like a good movie but it probably wouldn't appeal to a large enough audience

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fynne

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Edited By fynne

D9 is an amazing movie.  I'm "almost" glad that he didn't get to make Halo.

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mordukai

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Edited By mordukai

I really don't think a live action movie of Halo will ever be made.

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Jolly_Lolly

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Edited By Jolly_Lolly

I sure hope not. 

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gingertastic_10

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Edited By gingertastic_10

If they do make a Halo movie, I hope it's a little better then District 9.

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iam3green

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Edited By iam3green

i hope there isn't going to be made a halo movie. i don't think it would be all that great. district 9 was a great movie to see. it was the best summer movie i saw this summer.

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SALADNZ

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Edited By SALADNZ

 After watching district 9 i would  definatly  trust them with the task of creating the halo movie
 Idris Elba would be a mean Sargent Johnson

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Green_Incarnate

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Edited By Green_Incarnate

Sorry, but I burst out laughing at that fake alien language.

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HairyMike87

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Edited By HairyMike87

I want there to be a Halo movie. More importantly, I want there to be a great Halo movie.

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SuperIntendentChalmers

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Neil is a great director. Alive in Joburg had a great concept and excellent production for a short. I'm glad this guy is finally getting to have his feature produced by Peter Jackson. I hope people will support his vision cause I personally think this director has the chops to become a main stream.

And to all the internet haters, don't bash on his film making skills until you have done it yourself. So before you make some stupid comment about how "lame" it is, I'd like to see your film.

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Mjolnir

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Edited By Mjolnir

I would almost be surprised that this is getting made before a Halo movie, but then I remember that it isn't some epic fail partnership of Microsoft, FOX, and...Universal, was it?

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CL60

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Edited By CL60
solidskorpion said:
"dunno...feels very b-movie-ish to me."
fail
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church069

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Edited By church069

Looks pretty interesting, I do hope something comes out of this.  As for a Halo movie, I would still like a movie to be made, but not any time soon though.  As of right now I'm kind of tired of seeing the master chief and halo.  Maybe that will change in a few of years and I'll be more inclined to want a halo movie.

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Manatassi

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Edited By Manatassi

This looks really good.... NOTHING like Alien Nation. I would still like to see these guys make a Halo Movie but this should give an idea of the talent that would have been making the Halo Movie. 

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guiseppe

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Edited By guiseppe

I find this much more interesting than I would a Halo movie. I never got the games or what's so great about them. I remember really liking Alive in Joburg, so this is just awesome.

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IVIorpheus

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Edited By IVIorpheus

As much as I wanted the Halo movie, this District 9 looks interesting....

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Media_Master

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Edited By Media_Master

Nice trailer, but Halo has too much bagage to get made

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Demyx

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Edited By Demyx

I'm loving the documentary style of it. I couldn't really care less about a Halo movie.

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TomA

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Edited By TomA

saw the District 9 trailer when i went to go see Xmen, which sucked by the way. But the trailer for District 9 was kool.

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solidskorpion

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Edited By solidskorpion

dunno...feels very b-movie-ish to me.

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CarnivorousCommanderMonkey

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The movie COULD be great. I love Halo, I have real all the books, and the universe really appeals to me. That said, I hope they don't fuck it up. But I would rather have it NOT made, then suffer through some fucking disposal projectile diarrhea like a Uwe Boll movie.

Otherwise this looks like it could be a sleeper hit. I'll watch it for sure.

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myke_tuna

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Edited By myke_tuna

Wow. I just saw this trailer today when I saw Wolverine. At first I was like wait. What? Peter Jackson. Neill Blomkamp. Not Human? Dude. What....*nerdgasm building* Odd insect thing? (Drone maybe?) *nerdgasm imminent* District 9? What the fuck is this? lol. Nah, but I really did think it was some Halo trailer. For a whole second. But then I saw the African setting and people talking. And the ship. That looks nothing like the Halo style. So I dismissed the Halo theory. Regardless, this looks pretty cool.

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deactivated-5e6836602716e

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that trailer would have been so much better without that stupid interrogation scene.

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CL60

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Edited By CL60
HatKing said:
"Not really original, I'm interested, but I wouldn't say it is original.  I mean alien films are a dime a dozen and the whole shakey cam thing is old news and making things look like fake documentaries isn't really groundbreaking either.  I guess this would be original for an alien film.  I'm interested mostly because Peter Jackson seems to be interested and I'd like to think if it is good enough for him it is good enough for me."
It's not original because there has been alien movies?  ummmm....I'm not even going to explain..
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Undeadpool

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Edited By Undeadpool

Wow...that's gotta be some kinda dream call "Hey, dude who made the amazing short film Alive in Joberg, Peter Jackson called, said something about turning your short film into a long film...might wanna call him back."

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hatking

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Edited By hatking

Not really original, I'm interested, but I wouldn't say it is original.  I mean alien films are a dime a dozen and the whole shakey cam thing is old news and making things look like fake documentaries isn't really groundbreaking either.  I guess this would be original for an alien film.  I'm interested mostly because Peter Jackson seems to be interested and I'd like to think if it is good enough for him it is good enough for me.

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CL60

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Edited By CL60
solviper said:
"I don't like how the title of this says "the movie that replaced halo". That will make every fan boy hate this film even though I think it look incredible and very original. "
It's original, but you know how people these days are, always want something original than bash it when it is different.
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shadow502t

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Edited By shadow502t

It looks decently cool. I like the news footage look.

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gunharp

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Edited By gunharp

Wow, the Solaris soundtrack they used for this mini-trailer did not work. I guess that's because when I hear that track my context is both of the Solaris movies and that is a majorly different kind of sci-fi and mood.

This movie has potential, the trailer albeit was kinda dorky. I am going to cross my fingers for some "die xeno scum!" action and one liners.

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solviper

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Edited By solviper

I don't like how the title of this says "the movie that replaced halo". That will make every fan boy hate this film even though I think it look incredible and very original.

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CL60

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Edited By CL60

i wanna see the aliens faces!

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TwoOneFive

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Edited By TwoOneFive
ddensel said:
"District 9 has about as much in common with Alien Nation as the TV show Alf does.....

Movie looks cool, I just hope there's going to be characters I care about in it, and not just a bunch of flashy effects and shaky camera movements ala Cloverfield. "
i hate when people fixate on shaky camera movements, pay attention to whats being filmed and stop complaining about it. 
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ZeroCast

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Edited By ZeroCast

If there is ever going to be a Halo movie then it might be based on Halo: The Fall of Reach, that's of course according to Wikipedia and the Concept Art image that got released.

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deactivated-5ee2492b629bb

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Is this video-game related because it isn't?

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natural_deadhead

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Edited By natural_deadhead

Halo = puke

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Dragonbyte

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Edited By Dragonbyte

alive in joberg was cool when i first saw it and i think district 9 will be better cant want to see this

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FuzzYLemoN

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Edited By FuzzYLemoN

I'm glad they ditched the Halo movie for this. A Halo movie would just be silly; it's famous for being a GAME, let it stay that way. Making a pointless movie out of it would be a waste of talent.

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ddensel

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Edited By ddensel
District 9 has about as much in common with Alien Nation as the TV show Alf does.....

Movie looks cool, I just hope there's going to be characters I care about in it, and not just a bunch of flashy effects and shaky camera movements ala Cloverfield.
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laticsfan

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Edited By laticsfan

Cool new nothing of this movie, and it looks really good.

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ParanoidFreak

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Edited By ParanoidFreak

The Halo movie would be very hard to execute well. District 9 looks REALLY good.

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Cerza

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Edited By Cerza

I was digging it until I saw the alien roach-thing. That's something straight out of a bad 50's sci-fi film that.

As far as the Halo film goes... well I really wish they would just keep it a game and leave well enough alone. Then again, I am one of those people who feels turning video games into movies just doesn't work.

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penguindust

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Edited By penguindust
ninjakiller said:
"PlasmaBeam44 said:
"That movie looks phenomenal. How anyone isn't excited for it after watching that trailer is beyond me."
What's there to get excited about?   Alien Nation did this 20 years ago, and at least Alien Nation had Jimmy Caan."
Agreed.  And, I question how much Peter Jackson actually had to do with this film.  "Peter Jackson Presents"  means about as much as "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" did five years after the directors death.
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mrsmiley

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Edited By mrsmiley

This looks far more intriguing than a Halo movie. One of the best trailers I've seen in a very long time.

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Aaron_G

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Edited By Aaron_G

I can't believe the idea is still being tossed around. 

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Akolite

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Edited By Akolite

Wouldn't a Gears movie just be predator with multiple Arnolds?

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crunchUK

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Edited By crunchUK
Uberjannie said:
"Bah, I dont want a Halo movie. What I want is a Gears of War movie."
2 hours of muscular men shooting behind cover swearing and the occansional chainsawing?
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Snail

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Edited By Snail

Why do you want a Halo movie Brad?! It is bullshit!