Halo Rumour Debunked – Or Is It?

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Rumours began last week over at the IESB that Stephen Spielberg was in negotiations to produce the long awaited HALO movie based on Stuart Beattie’s treatment entitled HALO: THE FALL OF REACH. Naturally, being big news I reported back to my readers on this development – sorted, right?

Well, over the last couple of days (Wednesday I think), Microsoft released a statement regarding the recent news:

“We’re glad there’s still a lot of enthusiasm in the entertainment industry surrounding the idea of a Halo movie. That said, the Halo feature film remains on hold as we focus on projects like Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach.

Upon further questioning, Microsoft added that they had “nothing further to share with respect to plans regarding a Halo movie”.

Many film sites have taken this to mean that the Spielberg rumour is pure bunkum, and if I’m honest I would be inclined to think the same thing – were it not for the IESB’s response:

I feel the need to update because a few sites out there including MTV Movies Blog are taking some Microsoft quotes out of context and claiming IESB’s Spielberg news is wrong.

Sorry guys, it’s not.

Typical corporate “no comment” guys. I guess if we had said a Twilight cast member would be starring in Halo with a resurrected Michael Jackson as his sidekick, MTV would have reported it as truth just for the traffic.

There’s the update and let me tell you, we can’t tell you who our sources are but let me just say they are very close to the project.

Now this is where it gets tricky, we all know that in the corporate world people will only let you know as much as they need you to, and they’ll bullshit the rest. So does Microsoft’s statement have the stale tang of bull? Is Spielberg in negotiations? I’ll let you decide, all I’m saying is I certainly hope he is!

Source: IESB.

Top Five Ray Harryhausen Creations

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The moment a young Ray Harryhausen was taken to the cinema to watch the original 1933 version of King Kong and he was never the same again. He had been bitten by the special effects bug and the winner was ultimately going to be cinema.

His career in old school special effects still wows film fans to this day. Yes they’ve dated, but the artistry and imagination still appeals and wins admirers. Many of Harryhausen’s creations became iconic screen characters and gave people growing up some of their most cherished film memories. The man’s achievements go down in film history – he was a titan of the industry himself.

5: GWANGI – THE VALLEY OF GWANGI (1969)

Harryhausen’s creations weren’t just animals or beasts but characters in their own right. He broke the trend for screen dinosaurs when he made Gwangi the allosaurus sympathetic. The scene when cowboys capture Gwangi remains an incredible achievement in special effects. Man versus beast, but who exactly is the beast?

4: THE OCTOPUS – IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA (1955)

In reality not really an octopus as the films budget couldn’t stretch to 8 tentacles. This example of Harryhausen’s early professional career showed everyone what he was capable of.

As the oversized tentacles wrap themselves around the Golden Gate Bridge and pull it down the audience stares open mouthed and gasping.

3: PEGASUS – CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981)

Personal favourite of mine and one of my earliest film memories. Pegasus is a symbol for the magic of cinema. A magnificent white steed with huge wings that allow him to fly gracefully through the air.

Perseus is nothing without Pegasus.

2: THE SKELETONS – JASON & THE ARGONAUTS (1963)
Harryhausen had already given the world one fighting skeleton in the 7th Voyage of Sinbad but he pulled out all stops here and created one of the most famous scenes in history.

Taking an astonishing four and half months to complete the scene is only 4 minutes long but without doubt it remains 4 minutes of pure unadulterated joy. 7 skeletons attack Jason and two other guys. Nobody really wins except us.

1: MEDUSA – CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981)

Who else could really take the top spot but the gorgon herself? An evil bitch with snakes for hair and a glare that can turn any man to stone. Her rattle snake tail still sends chills up the spine and in terms of Harryhausen’s genius, it all shines through in the nail-biting tension filled scene where Perseus triumphs in defeating her.

Medusa is at number 1 simply because she has the greatest character design of all Harryhausen’s creations. The sequence has great animation, brilliant lighting and sound effects that have rarely been bettered in any film since.

Karl Urban Talks Priest And Star Trek Sequel

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This past weekend, Spike TV held their annual Scream Awards (more on that later today), at the event the folks at Collider got the chance to talk to “Star Trek” and “Priest” actor, Karl Urban. The obvious topic on their fanboy lips was of course, Star Trek 2.

Urban starred in this year’s J.J. Abrams-directed Star Trek as Leonard “Bones” McCoy, so who better to ask about part 2 right? According to Collider:

Urban said “It would be great to have another Star Trek out for 2011.” He explained a script is in the works and that co-writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman expect a draft to be completed by December. As far as details are concerned, Urban is just as anxious to see where the second film will take the crew of the USS Enterprise as we are.

Well I’m glad to hear it! Given the fan reaction and overall success of this year’s Trek outing, I would say that a 2011 release for the sequel is highly likely. However not the types to stick to one subject for too long, the Collider folks soon moved on to another Urban-esque film, the aforementioned Priest:

In the tail end of the video Urban addresses another film he’s working on called Priest based on a Korean comic series by Hyung Min-Woo. It stars Paul Bettany as Ivan Isaacs, a priest who defies the church by hunting down a group of vampires who’ve kidnapped his niece. Urban doesn’t reveal any juicy details but does confirm that his costume consists of “lots of cool shit.”

Check out the full video interview below, courtesy of, oh you know the name!