5. Everybody Wants To Work With Him
J.J. Abrams has George Lucas and Steven Spielberg on speed dial. That's what I call living the nerd dream. Abrams has displayed a rare gift for knowing when to be a mentor and when to be mentored. He clearly views film and television as a collaborative process. He's cultivated a group of writers and directors who have gone on to make amazing movies and TV shows. After the release of Star Trek, he became one of the biggest players in Hollywood. Everyone wants to work with the guy. And it's easy to see why: he does good work and he makes his collaborators look good, too. Half-Life wouldn't be the first big-budget video game movie - Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within got there first. Those films weren't terribly good, thanks to miscast celebrities and journeyman talent behind the scenes. Half-Life could mark the first time that Hollywood's biggest and brightest worked on a video game adaptation, with the right people in front of and behind the camera. Even if J.J. Abrams doesn't direct a Half-Life film, he'll hire someone who can do it justice.