In what has us even more pumped for the new Halo movie is today’s announcement that Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh will serve as the executive producers of the new Halo film based on the popularvideo game for the Microsoft Xbox. Peter Jackson is known for his Lord of the Rings trilogy and the upcoming King Kong movies. Jackson’s award-winning companies Weta Digital Ltd.and Weta Workshop Ltd. will provide creatures, miniatures and visual effects for the production. Jackson will not be directing the movie, although his presence on the set is sure to leave apositive impact. Mary Parent and Scott Stuber will produce HALO with Peter Schlessel. After Fox, led by President Hutch Parker and Universal, led by Production President DonnaLangley, acquired the feature film rights to HALO, the studios worked in conjunction with Schlessel in reaching out to a number of producers who auditioned for Microsoft/Bungie. The filmis currently targeted for a Summer 2007 worldwide release. Universal will handle domestic distribution of the film, and Fox will handle the international release. HALO will be shotin its entirety in Wellington, New Zealand and will make use of the full range of Jackson’s state-of-the-art production and post-production facilities, including Weta Digital Ltd., WetaWorkshop Ltd., Stone Street Studios and Park Road Post. “As a gaming fan, I’m excited to bring HALO’s premise, action and settings to the screen with all the specificity andreality today’s technology can provide,” said Jackson. “Fran and I are intrigued by the unique challenges this project offers, and we’re delighted to be working againwith our friends at Universal, and with our new ones at Fox and Microsoft. I’m a huge fan of the game and look forward to helping it come alive on the cinema screen.”
