Stuart Beattie completes new HALO script

Latino Review are adamant this is not an April Fool's tease. Take that for what you will. They claim studio favourite screenwriter Stuart Beattie (Collateral, G.I. Joe) has completed a spec script draft titled Halo: Fall of Reach - and yes if your a die hard Halo fan you are correct - it will be based upon the best selling fan fiction novel from Eric Nylund. It would seem Beattie is a HUGE Halo fan and became frustrated at the lack of development for the past 18 months on the movie side of things. So he took matters into his own hands (usually he is sought out and paid millions to write blockbusters) and has drafted out a treatment which he hopes will convince a studio that it's manageable enough budget wise and marketable enough to make a film out of it. Here's what the script is supposedly about..

The script is, first and foremost, a character-driven story about a soldier named John who was kidnapped or "conscripted" by the UNSC when he was just six years old, and then brutally trained to become an elite Spartan warrior known as Master Chief 117. The script then takes us through the horrific first contact with the Covenant hordes on the doomed colony world of Harvest, and then climaxes with the spectacular fall of the UNSC forward base on Reach, during which every other Spartan is slaughtered. The script also gives detailed outlines for the second movie, HALO: RISE OF THE FLOOD, which takes place entirely on the Halo ringworld, and the third and final movie, HALO: BATTLE FOR EARTH, which roughly follows the events of Halo 3, the game. One cool advantage of this first script is that (like the shark in JAWS) you don't even see the Covenant until halfway through the movie. And because all the creatures are CGI creations, this cuts the budget down dramatically and makes a first Halo movie that much more viable. For Halo fans, it's like the prequel that provides all the answers to questions they've thought about for years. For non Halo fans, it's an exciting action movie that provides a clear, concise introduction to a world five hundred years in the future with relatable characters and a terrifying alien menace.

He convinced Paramount to put $170 million in a toy franchise. Has he done it again for a video game? I will probably give more thoughts when I'm sure this isn't a wind-up.