The Great Hollywood Journey, Part II
No sense beating around the bush. I would only say that if you’re not already sitting down, you absolutely should.

A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to partner with two tremendous Producers from Universal, Mary Parent and Scott Stuber. In the short time they’ve been on board, Mary and Scott have joined with Peter Schlessel to accomplish unimaginably wonderful things. Example? They’ve secured an Executive Producer to help guarantee the creative integrity and technical excellence of the Halo film.

And that Executive Producer’s name is Peter Jackson.

I’ll give you a second to process. If you’re having a strong, emotional reaction, don’t panic. When I heard the news it took me the better part of a day just to stop smiling.

Yes. The Peter Jackson, Executive Producing the Halo film.

Needless to say I and the rest of Bungie are positively incontinent (Marty especially). But what really knocks us on our asses is we’re also getting the combined talent of the mighty men and women of WETA in the bargain. From fabricating Covenant weapons to building life-sized Forerunner structures to accomplishing shot after shot of complex live-action/CG integration – simply put, there’s no group of people we’d rather have realize the Halo universe on screen.

Indeed, I don’t think there’s another group that even could.

Mary and Scott know Peter Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh because of their work on King Kong (which Universal is distributing), so I asked them for their personal take on this development:

"First, let me just say how honored and excited Scott and I are to be involved in this project. As huge fans of the game ourselves we know how high the bar is. We've made it our mission to try and involve the absolute very best people one can imagine in every capacity. Having developed a great relationship with Peter and Fran through the extraordinary Kong experience, and seeing first hand just how unique a filmmaking environment they have crafted, we approached them about the possibility of coming aboard to Exec Produce. Not surprisingly, they were already avid fans of the game, and given our existing shorthand, they said yes! To be able to continue our relationship with them – on HALO of all projects – is really a dream come true for us in the biggest possible way.”

I daresay me too. And did I mention that Mary and Scott are awesome?

Not surprisingly I’ve begun apartment hunting in Wellington – though Chris Butcher says I can bunk with his grandmother in Christchurch so long I don’t mind a bit of a commute…

I’m only half joking. Parsons and I are hopping on a plane to New Zealand next week to meet Mr. Jackson and his team, and I imagine it won’t be the last time we make the trip.

If I didn’t make this clear in my previous update, Bungie’s in this for the long haul – 100% dedicated to making the Halo movie the best it can be. Now we have help. Ten thousand pound gorilla help. And that’s just about the best kind there is.