Fox and Universal pull out of Halo movie deal

The Halo movie took a blow this week when film studios Universal and Fox backed out of a deal between themselves and Microsoft.

Fox and Universal had signed up to fund and distribute the Halo movie, but when an attempt to renegotiate a better deal for themselves was refused the studios pulled out of the agreement, leaving the Halo movie without a distributor and, more importantly, without the funding to make the movie.

Despite the setback, pre-production work is still continuing at Weta Digital and Weta Workshop, and Microsoft is said to be in talks with other distribution partners.

If you missed the news a few months back, relative newcomer Neil Blomkamp has been named as the Halo movie director, with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh executive producing.