As the Halo project is well and truly dead, the other Microsoft popular video game franchise Gears of War has just had it's movie rights snapped up by New Line. A 21 page script treatment from Collateral screenwriter Stuart Beattie did the trick. New Line are now on the hunt for a director with a 2009 summer release date planned, which they are hoping will coincide with Gears of War 2 for the Xbox 360. I've played a demo of the game and it was pretty cool, extremely atmospheric. Variety tells us that the story.... concerns a world reeling from an invasion by aliens known as the Locust. A small group of elite soldiers, including main character Marcus Fennix, who is rescued from prison at the beginning of the game, fight to retake the planet Sera for its surviving humans. The game is certainly Microsoft's darling at the moment, and is seen as one of the prime factors in the success of the 360 so far. The game has sold 3 million copies worldwide, with no sign of the sales slowing down. It's funny how quickly things can change around in Hollywood. This time last year it was Halo that was looking to become the biggest computer game movie of all time, now it would seem there's a good chance Gears of War could beat it to the punch, but it still has an awful long way to go yet. source - variety