While Hollywood has tried to bring Microsoft’s Halo franchise to the big screen, those attempts never went anywhere. But Microsoft is now looking at a new way to tell Master chief’s story and has picked Steven Spielberg to produce a live action TV series.
The news was announced during Microsoft’s presentation to announce the XBox One entertainment console. According to The Los Angeles Times, Bonnie Ross, general manager of Microsoft's 343 Industries, said that Spielberg has joined the project.
Spielberg is currently in Cannes as the festival jury president, so he appeared via video. “The Halo universe is an amazing opportunity to be at that intersection where technology and myth-making meet to produce something truly groundbreaking,” reports Collider. The director added that he’d been playing video games since Pong and applauded the leaps in storytelling as graphics have gotten better.
It’s still unclear how much input Spielberg will have as an executive producer. As Collider notes, he was linked to the series in 2011 as it was rumored that DreamWorks would make a film, but nothing came of that. There was also an attempt from Peter Jackson to produce a version directed by Neill Blomkamp, but the two went on to make District 9 instead.
According to USA Today, the XBox One made its debut at the presentation at Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington headquarters. It’s the first new XBox since XBox 360 and is expected to hit the market during the holiday season to compete with Sony’s new Playstation 4. Games that will be available at launch will include Activision’s Call of Duty: Ghosts, and EA Sports litles like Madden and NBA Live.