In what could be the most ridiculous scoop of all time, I recently did an interview with DB Weiss, who I knew as the author of Lucky Wander Boy, but, apparently, is also the screenwriter for the Halo film. Yep, it’s probably going to be read by thousands upon thousands of people, and it was a complete fluke. Here’s something I left out of the GameSetWatch version, for reasons of vanity, ie. I’d rather not look like a complete prat.
I feel quite embarrassed that I didn’t know about the Halo screenplay…
No need to feel embarrassed…it hasn’t been announced yet, so mentions are slim outside of IMDB.
So, okay, it’s not that bad - I mean, if it were public knowledge, he’d probably have been bugged by hundreds of gimpy Halo fanboys by now anyway. In fact, only this morning, Joystiq and Kotaku were both talking about Alex Garland as the writer - he worked on one draft, but that’s old news now. Obviously, details are pretty thin on the ground in the interview - there’s not a lot given away. But it’s good news for anyone interested in the film, because he really does care about the licence. Oh, and the quality of his own work, naturally.
UPDATE: I should stop reading the comments posted at the various places that have picked this story up. It makes me want to defend every single criticism - which, incidentally, I really don’t understand. Fanboys really get my goat. Have you read his script? No? Then, did he give away the story? No? Then I fail to understand the negativity. My tiny degree of journalistic integrity and professionalism prevent me from trolling message boards, but nothing says I can’t reply on here, so…here’s a gem from Kotaku:
He has never played Halo…this movie is going to kill the franchise.
Dickhead…did you read the interview? Like, the bit where I said that I’d heard he was a fan of the multiplayer game, and asked if he liked the singleplayer story, and he said, in no uncertain terms, that he did? Or this one from 1UP:
Although the guy admits he is a gamer, he thinks that playing videogames is just for kids and he is ashamed of admitting he plays games.
I believe the “What am I, eight years old?” comment was a reference to the fact that both games had their roots in a time that meant that he might have played them when he was eight. But this is my favourite bit:
From the looks of it so far, the Halo movie would just turn out mediocre like a Uwe Boll movie.
By the looks of what? That there is a writer (who is a self-professed fan of the game) and a few producers attatched to the project? You fanboys…you really crack me up…