10 Promising Movies Cancelled For Bizarre Reasons
3. Microsoft's Desire For Total Creative Control Prevented A Live-Action Halo Adaptation Being Made
Rumours surrounding a live-action adaptation of Microsoft's flagship video game series have been circulating since at least 2005, when it was announced that Sunshine's writer Alex Garland was on-board to pen the script.
However, Microsoft refused to allow the rights for the series to be sold to a Hollywood studio. Instead, they opted to craft the entire film themselves before outsourcing the filming and post-production to a major studio.
This led to an infamous morning during which Microsoft inexplicably dispatched actors dressed as Master Chief all over Hollywood with copies of the script.
Surprisingly, this strategy initially appeared to work, with Microsoft, Universal and Fox all agreeing to work together on the project.
This quickly led to the group bringing The Lord of the Ring's Peter Jackson and his wife Fran Walsh to executive produce the project with Guillermo del Toro slated to direct.
Unfortunately, this was the beginning of the end for the coalition as, after numerous script disputes and the replacement of del Toro with District 9's Neill Blomkamp, both Fox and Universal withdrew from the project.
The experience clearly took its toll on both Microsoft, who have failed to restart the project, and Blomkamp who later vowed to never work with Fox ever again.