Microsoft has just announced that a director has been chosen for the upcoming Halomovie. The name of the lucky filmmaker is Neill Blomkamp, a native of South Africa. Blomkamp is best known for commercials and short films, including one short titled Alive in Joburg which tells the story of alien refugees in the future.Halo will be his very first big-budget feature film. Blomkamp received an Emmy nomination for working on an episode of the television series Dark Angel, starring Jessica Alba.
Mary Parent and Scott Stuber, both of whom were producers for You, Me and Dupree, as well as Peter Schlessel, prodcuer of Stay Alive, are listed as producers for Halo. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, the same duo behind the The Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, are both executive producers on the project, while Weta Digital will be handling all the special effects.
Microsoft’s announcement includes a quote from Jackson saying, “As a gaming fan, I’m excited to bring Halo’s premise, action and settings to the screen with all the specificity and reality today’s technology can provide … With Neill on board, I’m even more excited by the potential of this project.” Halo is scheduled for a major release in the summer of 2008.
