Daily Archives: 07/14/2012

McFarlane to produce Promethean Knight Deluxe figure

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You just know it had to be made, and McFarlane answered the call.

The Promethean Knight is being made into a deluxe figure. It’s large and will set you back around $28 per fig.

(Not actual product)

Text blurb from McFarlane:
Residents of the artificial world of Requiem, Knights represent the central occupying force, legions of extremely capable combatants with both ancient and mysterious origins. While they are significantly different from the legendary Forerunner Warrior-Servants of ages past, these Knights are no less harrowing. They are fully weaponized, heavily armored bipedal warriors, easily capable of engaging and terminating perceived threats in almost all environments. They are truly lethal creatures, taken lightly only at one’s peril.

Our Knight action figure stands approximately 9 inches tall, towering over Master Chief and the Spartan-IVs of the UNSC Infinity. This version of the Knight comes with the deadly Scattershot, the Forerunner’s twist on the shotgun, mounted on its right arm, plus a fearsome energy blade on its left. In Halo 4, and our action figures, Knights have a special synergy with the Watcher support unit. Our Knight figure includes an opening compartment in its back that can be used to carry our Watcher figure (available in Halo 4 Series 1 – Action Figures Assortment Extended) onto the battlefield!

Look for this Holiday season this year!
-HFFL

Mega Bloks Review: Covenant Wraith set #97014

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Covenant Wraith: Set number 97014

Build Time: 25 minutes sorting, 55 minutes build. Total 1 hour, 20 minutes.

Set Piece count: 637
Minifigs, Weapons and Accessories: Gold Standard Elite, Gold Ascetic Elite, Green EOD Spartan with parts for a Scout Spartan; Rocket launcher, Plasma Launcher
Special Features: Opening and Closing Plasma Cannon hatch/Cannon, Turret pivots 360°.
Dimensions: Wraith H 4-5″ (cannon sealed/open and extended) W 8.25″ L 8.75″ / Forerunner structure H 4.75″ W 3.5″ L 2.5″
Price/Value: $45US

The set has 637 pieces. To say this is an upgrade would be to diminish what is a truly fantastic set. The color for one makes this much closer to game accurate. The beautiful curvature of the replacement bloks makes this set look closer to the game model, while still having that familiar blok look. The cannon assembly is what really rocks in this set. The housing area of the cannon has been redone and so much for the better. I was impressed when I first saw this at New York Toy Fair, but I MUCH more impressed having now built it myself. The addition of the gold elites is great. With the gold elites from Seraph set you can build up a nice squad of Goldies. Need to have another elite to make the ultra, buy the drop pod that has the gold elite.

Okay so now for those pics (sorry no pics of the minifigs for now-pic didn’t turn out so well)

Click on images to see a larger version.

The box art. I can’t say enough how well the packaging looks for this line. It just keeps getting better with each iteration.

The contents:

All the pieces sorted out:

The build:

Take note in this next pic the way the curved piece fits together (insert). If you make a mistake here, you can fix it, but don’t be in a rush to pull out that pin, less you break it. Work it out gently. (TWSS)

Just look at that cannon and housing assembly. AWESOME!!!

The “wings”:

The finished model sans stickers:

A nice amount of leftover pieces:

Hey look a mini wraith from those pieces, sort of…:

The exquisite Forerunner structure. BTW, this one can be coupled with the Battlescape III set to make a larger structure.

Summary: While I liked the original MEGA Bloks Wraith set, this one is far and above better. New curved bloks, better in-game color, gold elites, green EOD and a mini set in the Forerunner structure. The price is actually VERY well priced. For a set of 637 pieces you might expect to pay close to $60. Instead it’s $15 less than that. A VERY good buy. That makes up for what I thought was a little bit of overpricing on two of the other new sets. So if you buy all 4 sets; wraith, seraph, space banshee, warthog; you definitely get your monies worth of bloks and Halo goodness.

Job well done MEGA!

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 medals. Great build, awesome color…I could repeat myself even more here. Just go and get one, or three.

-HFFL

Another Halo Reach Commendation ranked up!

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I finally moved my Multiplayer Wheelmen into the Gold Rank. I did it in style too last night. I got 30 wheelmen in one game and my gunner got 31 kills and a Perfection!

Woot, now THAT’S a way to rank up a commendation.

Here’s the game: https://halo.xbox.com/en-US/Career/HaloReach/GameHistory#!/?game=1070760665&section=Unknown

Here’s what my current commendations look like:

The only other one that I know I can rank up before Halo 4 is “Grounded.” That’s the commendation for vehicles destroyed in Firefight. Once I get that one ranked up, the only silver commendation left is “Sidearm” in multiplayer. Hmm, don’t know if I can rank that one up. I might make that one a challenge for myself. I do want all my commendations to be gold or better…

I foresee a lot of Living Dead and Swat Magnums in my future.

I’m currently at 96% complete. With Grounded I may get to 97%. If I go for the pistol kills, that should put me solidly at 97% commendations complete.

-HFFL

Mega Bloks Review: Warthog Resistance set #97011

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Warthog Resistance: Set number 97011

Build Time: 7 minutes sorting, 23 minutes build. Total 30 minutes.

Set Piece count: 285
Minifigs, Weapons and Accessories: Two NEW Green Mark VII Spartans!, Red Elite (new Halo 4 mold); Sticky pistol (NEW weapon), Assault Rifle, Carbine, Spartan Laser; weapons pod (NEW!)
Special Features: 4-wheel independent suspension, rotating and pivoting machine gin turret
Dimensions: Warthog H 4″ W 3″ L 7.25″ / Forerunner Structure H 4.5″ W 5.5″ L 5.5″
Price/Value: $33US

The set has 285 pieces. Roughly 75% are for the Warthog, with the rest for the Forerunner set piece. This new Warthog for Halo 4 is just plain amazing. For those who have other incarnations of Mega Bloks Warthogs, you’ll find the build similar in most respect, but there are some significant differences. The addition of the guardrails and gas cans just elevates the new warthog design to a more realistic level that we’ve not seen before. The Spartans in the set are AWESOME! Now we can say we have a Master Chief minifig! The Elite is very cool. I love this new more devilish look to the Elites. And we now get the first ever weapons drop pod!

Okay, okay, I know you didn’t read the above and went straight for the pics!

Click on images to see a larger version.

The box art:

Box Contents:

Sorting pieces (always good to do, IMO):

The build begins:

The finished warthog sans stickers (I don’t like to put stickers on the models. I always worry about them peeling off…)

Minifigs and weapons:

The weapons drop pod:

Leftover pieces:

What I made with those:

The sweet Forerunner structure:

Summary: A great set, with fast build time. The price is a little much for the set. With the piece count coming in at 285, this set should have been priced closer to $30. However, it’s only $3 more than that, so it’s close. There are some new parts here that I’m sure MEGA has to recoup the cost of. Those guardrail parts in particular as they can’t really be used on anything else but the warthog. (I expect we’ll see a Gauss and Rocket version of this later). The addition of the Forerunner structure is cool. It’s like you’re getting two sets in one. I hope we get more of those baseplates in upcoming sets. They really add some unseen punch to sets.

Overall Rating: 4.75 out of 5 medals. Oh so close, but for the couple of dollars I think it’s over priced. Still, is it worth getting? You bet your a…

-HFFL

Some ComicCon Halo related pics…

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San Diego Comicon is a huge deal in the world of we nerds, geeks, and freaks. Cosplay (costumed persons) has become HUGE at Comicon and Halo has an ever growing presence.

Some of the cast of the “Forward Unto Dawn” series are also at the con.

As well, MEGA Bloks, fine makers of Halo building blok sets are just outside the con at the Hard Rock Cafe and have an offering of Halo sets for those who come over and check their display.

Here are some Halo related pics from this year’s Comicon:

Gotta say, I’m kinda liking the female Chief. She gets my award for best in show! LOL

Ohai there BS Angel as well! What no Jazz hands??

-HFFL

Forward Unto Dawn pics part 3: Behind the scenes

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Just as important as what we see on screen is what goes on behind the camera. Here are some pics of those very things.

You know, this really is shaping up to be a top notch production. With the credits of the actors, to the awesome set dressing, to the directing, interviews, trailers and such, we are in for a phenomenal treat come October.

-HFFL

Forward Unto Dawn pics part 2: The Official poster and On set pics

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It’s no secret I’m a big Halo fan, literally and figuratively. This episodic mini series has me STOKED. Seeing these pics from on the set just has me drooling and wishing I could have been there.

But first the Official Poster:

And now a gallery of the On Set pics (click to enlarge):

Awesome stuff, huh???

Gawd, what I wouldn’t do to have just a couple of seconds on screen in this!

Mega Bloks Review: Covenant Seraph set #97015

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Covenant Seraph: Set number 97015

Build Time: 20 minutes sorting, 45 minutes build. Total 1 hour, 5 minutes.

Set Piece count: 566
Minifigs, Weapons and Accessories: Gold Elite General with gold parts to make a Gold Elite Ultra, Blue Standard Elite, Blue Flight Elite; Focus Rifle, Needler, Needle Rifle? Could be the Plasma Launcher, not sure.
Special Features: Opening and Closing Cockpit hatch
Dimensions: Seraph H 3″ W 9″ L 18″ / Stand H 4.625″  W 3.25″ L 3.25″
Price/Value: $65US

The set has 566 pieces. All but about 5% of the pieces go to the seraph. It’s a fairly long set at a foot and a half long.  Though it’s not very tall. So if you have a large shelf space it may fit. I had to do some research on the game color of this starfighter. I thought it was more the wine color that the Revenant is. The model is close though in approximation of color. While I’m not a fan of the ship so much in the game, the MEGA Bloks model is excellent. The build time can be done in one sitting and there is much repetition to make it an easier build.

Now for what you really want, the pics:

Click on images to see a larger version.

The beautiful box art. Loving the new Master Chief Armor.

The contents of the box (so much grape purple!):

Pieces sorted (sorry for the drink containers in the corner. A man’s gotta drink!

The build begins:

Now that it’s complete we go to the stand:

The minifigs and weapons:

As with many MB sets there are stabilizing pieces to keep the model flat on your building surface. They are often a very different color from the rest of the model to easily identify. In this case yellow. Here are those bloks, plus the ones left over. (I was able to make a pseudo-mini Seraph from those bloks):

Summary: At $65US, this is a bit expensive for the set. Since the set includes 566 pieces,   I’d have put the cost at between $55-60US. I go by the general rule of 10 cents per piece. So $56.60 would have been the price I’d have liked to see. However, that being said, it’s a large set and for those who want some covie purple bloks to make customs from, this set has you covered.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 medals. The price is really the only drawback to this set. The model itself is great and the stnad really makes it pop off where ever you display it at.

Microsoft Store Confirms Limited Edition Halo Console!

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Listed on the Microsoft store site (link now not working…)

Okay, if that isn’t enough to entice you, need I remind you that by ordering from the MicroSoft store you also get the Pulse Armor skin!

Text from MS store:

Begin the Halo Reclaimer saga in style on an Xbox 360 Limited Edition Halo 4 Console. This custom-designed console comes with a 320 GB hard drive, exclusive on-off and eject sound effects, two customized controllers, a Halo 4 Standard Edition game, and downloadable Halo 4 content.

• Exclusive design: Limited-edition, one-of-a-kind console was custom designed by the Halo 4 developer, 343 Industries, and Xbox 360.

• Two custom Halo 4 wireless controllers: High-performance controllers boast a range of up to 30 feet and come with a rotating D-pad and blue LED lights.

• Halo 4 Standard Edition game: Begin the Halo Reclaimer saga right out of the box

• Exclusive sounds: Hear actual Halo 4 in-game sound effects when console is turned on and when the eject button is pushed.

• Largest hard drive available: The 320-GB hard drive offers more space for game add-ons and downloadable content, and more memory to store all of your entertainment.

• Custom downloadable content: Receive a code to download Halo 4 content from Xbox LIVE, including unique armor skin, unique weapon skin, unique emblem, matching avatar armor, and unique avatar prop.

• Black Xbox 360 headset: Chat with friends on Xbox LIVE, or team up and jump in with multiplayer gameplay.*

Price is $399US. Controllers are $60US each. I’ve read that the console and controllers are translucent. Wow, that’s awesome!

I don’t really “need” another XBOX, but I sure as hell WANT this one!

-HFFL

Final Book in the Halo: Forerunner Saga Revealed! Halo: Silentium

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Text from Tor.com

Tor Books has just announced the title, first cover, and release date for the third novel in the New York Times bestselling Halo Forerunner Saga, Halo: Silentium, written by legendary science fiction author Greg Bear. The first two books of the Forerunner Saga, Halo: Cryptumand Halo: Primordium are currently available in trade paperback, e-book, and audiobook. This newest book in the series will release in hardcover from Tor on January 8, 2013 alongside simultaneous audio and e-book editions.

In Halo: Cryptum, Greg Bear began a three-book arc set in the era of the Forerunners, the ancient and enigmatic creators and builders of the Halos, which continued in Halo: Primordium. Now, in the last years of the Forerunner empire, chaos rules. The Flood—a horrifying shape-changing parasite—has arrived in force, aided by unexpected allies. Internal strife within the ecumene has desperately weakened Forerunner defenses.

Only the Ur-Didact and the Librarian—husband and wife pushed into desperate conflict—hold the keys to salvation. Facing the consequences of a mythic tragedy, one of them must now commit the greatest atrocity of all time—to prevent an unmatched evil from dominating the entire universe.

Tor Books has proudly partnered with Microsoft and 343 Industries to publish every book set in this iconic universe. Along with the books of the Forerunner Saga, Tor also publishes another all-new Halo trilogy penned byNew York Times bestselling author Karen Traviss that explores the Halo Universe in the wake of the final events of Halo 3. Traviss’s first novel, Halo: Glasslands, came out in 2011, with Halo: The Thursday War due out in October 2012.

/end copy/paste

I don’t know about you folks, but I’m REALLY excited to read this last in the trilogy of books. The cover art is amazing and gives us yet another glimpse into the scope and size of Forerunner technology.

-HFFL

Sideshow Collectibles to produce a Master Chief Premium format figure!

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Sideshow Collectibles is well known for producing high quality, if expensive, figures. They’ve finally had the opportunity to make something from Halo and their license starts with who else but the Master Chief himself in his Mark V armor.

Sideshow Collectibles Master Chief

This si likely going to be out of my price range, but it does look sweet. If any of you buy it, please take a lot of pics and forward them to me, so I can do a write on it. (You’ll get credit for the photos of course)

-HFFL

‘Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn’ will be the first ‘Halo’ movie

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Text from herocomplex.latimes.com by Ben Fritz

Microsoft’s blockbuster “Halo” franchise has sold more than 42 million video games and been featured in novels, comic books, trading cards and an animated series. But Master Chief, the “space marine” protagonist who wields two guns and takes no prisoners, got his butt kicked on his first foray into the live-action world, when 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures’ 2006 attempt to develop a big-budget “Halo” movie fizzled over budget concerns.

Now “Halo” has gone in front of the cameras, but without any movie studio assistance. Microsoft has produced a Web series, called “Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn,” which will premiere this October in five episodes leading up to the release of the “Halo 4” video game. The segments will then be collected, along with 15 minutes of additional footage, into a 90-minute feature film. Microsoft will announce “Forward Unto Dawn” and preview it to fans at Comic-Con International in San Diego during a panel Thursday.

Financed at a cost insiders pegged as between $5 million and $10 million, “Forward Unto Dawn” represents the technology giant’s first significant step forward into the traditional entertainment world. Its backers hope the step will allow 343 Industries, the Microsoft subsidiary that oversees everything “Halo,” to tell new types of stories and reach new audiences.

“We want this piece to do all the things that a game, by virtue of being a game, can’t,” said producer Lydia Antonini, a former Warner Bros. executive who is one of several experienced Hollywood hands Microsoft hired. “When you have real people, you can have real stakes and make connections.”

Produced over five weeks this past spring in Vancouver, “Forward Unto Dawn” is a prequel story that portrays the first invasion by the Covenant, an alien force that has been the primary enemy in “Halo” games thus far. Set in a military academy, the futuristic science-fiction series focuses on a young trainee who will also appear in “Halo 4” and other upcoming games.

The cast includes Australian actor Tom Green, relatively unknown in the U.S., as its lead. Daniel Cudmore, who played Colossus in two “X-Men” movies and was in the most recent “Twilight” film, costars as Master Chief. Other cast members aren’t household names but have appeared in everything from “Footloose” to “Supernatural” to “The Chronicles of Narnia.”

Director Stewart Hendler, who previously made the horror movie “Sorority Row” and science-fiction Web series “H+,” said his goal was to temper a franchise known in the game world for over-the-top action and grandiose plots.

“I wanted to bring a sense of reality and gravity to the world,” he explained while editing the series in a North Hollywood office. “Everything from the performances to the aesthetics should be tethered to a sense of authenticity and grittiness.”

Key to that ambition, the filmmakers said, was using computer effects as little as possible. All the “Halo” hardware — from Master Chief’s armor to the “MA5” gun, Warthog vehicle, and Pelican drop ship — was made with real materials.

“Our hope is that nobody will look at a frame of this and go, ‘Oh, that’s a green screen,’” said producer Josh Feldman. “We built a disproportionate amount of our sets and brought in a visual effects supervisor who won an Emmy for ‘The Pacific.’”

An inspiration, the filmmakers said, has been the popular live-action commercials used to promote previous “Halo” games. An ad for 2009’s “Halo 3: ODST” helped to win director Rupert Sanders the director’s job on this summer’s big-budget tentpole film “Snow White and the Huntsman.”

In producing “Forward Unto Dawn,” Microsoft is putting itself among a small group of video game companies expanding into the live-action world. After producing several live-action Web videos based on its “Assassin’s Creed” franchise, French game publisher Ubisoft recently recruited “X-Men: First Class” star Michael Fassbender to play the lead character in a movie version it is developing. Like “Halo,” the “Assassin’s Creed” movie is being developed without a Hollywood studio.

While the primary business of “Halo” is still selling video games, Microsoft executives say they don’t see their foray into live action as a purely promotional move. “It’s really important to us that this is a stand-alone product that can make money on its own,” said Matt McCloskey, director of franchise business management for 343.

Toward that end, Microsoft licensed 343 to Machinima.com, the game website and YouTube channel. That will be the only place to watch “Forward Unto Dawn” webisodes, beginning Oct. 5, save for Microsoft Xbox 360 consoles connected to the Internet.

When put together into a film, the “Halo” movie will be given away free with limited editions of “Halo 4,” and be available to rent or buy on DVD, Blu-ray and in digital stores.

Millions of hard-core “Halo” fans are sure to stream the episodes and scrutinize whether every detail is exactly right. Hendler said he exchanged hundreds of emails with staff at 343 during preproduction. “They were checking every costume stitch, the placement of LEDs on the guns, and the bevels on the visors,” he said.

But if “Forward Unto Dawn” meets the ambitions of its makers, it will also draw viewers who think warthogs are animals and a Master Chief can be found at Camp Pendleton.

“One of the things we’re trying to do is reach new audiences,” said 343 franchise development director Frank O’Connor. “If Mom watches, she’ll completely understand it.”

– Ben Fritz

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn Director & Cast Interviews

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This is a long video coming in at over 19 minutes long.

It starts off with the Director, Stewart Hendler, then shifts to Daniel Cudmore. Daniel seems to LOVE being in the armor. Next up is Tom Green who plays Tom Lasky, the main character of the series. Lastly Anna Popplewell tells her story. Being the sort-of love interest to Lasky, I imagine we’re going to see a lot of her in the story. She and Lasky have a sort of love/hate relationship.

Forward Unto Dawn pics part 1: The Cast

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Hopefully by now you’ve had a chance to see the trailer for the Live Action series “Forward Unto Dawn” starting 5 weeks before the release of Halo 4 with an approximate 15 minutes per episode.

In this first of a three part article of pics we get to meet the cast of FUD. Titles in parenthesis are other acting credits the actors are known for.


Tom Green (Dance Academy)


Anna Popplewell (The Chronicles of Narnia) Eye candy? I think so. She is pretty. Good actress too.


Daniel Cudmore (X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Twilight Saga) Okay, while not 7 ft tall, he’s a GREAT pic of MC. He IS 6’4″. He’s played Colossus from X-Men for gawds sake. Awesome casting here! (and he’s one lucky bastard, as he’ll be known as Master Chief for life now…)


Ayelet Zurer (Angels & Demons, Munich)


Mike Dopud (Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol) I gotta say that he would have been a good pick for an older Master Chief.


Enisha Brewster (Footloose)


Masam Holden (Grey’s Anatomy, Elizabethtown)


Osric Chau (2012) Cripes, a friend of mine is going to gloat over this, being that his nickname is also “JJ.” JJ, if you read this and gloat I’m taking you off my friends list….LOL


Iain Belcher (Supernatural)


Kat De Lieva (no other credits known) Hmm, she turns blonde for this role?

And finally


Chris Shields (no further credit given) A doctor? Hmm, I wonder if he’s a secret part of the Mjolnir project?

Some really good actors in the cast. I’m most looking forward to Daniel Cudmore’s Master Chief. I hope he keeps it as close to the game MC as possible. Looking at some of the behind the scenes trailers, he does. And man, is that armor impressive.

The Forward Unto Dawn is a Halo series, not exclusively about Master Chief, though he does feature in it. Finally we are getting something real beyond just commercials. After you tally up the total time of the 5 episodes, we’re going to darn near have a feature length film!

-HFFL

The Halo Bulletin: 7.12.12

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I’ve not included the photos from the bulletin as I will be posting them in their on article. If you want to see them in the full bulletin, follow the link:

The Halo Bulletin: 7.12.12
By BS Angel

Forward Unto San Diego

When you are mere months away from releasing a video game, traveling becomes the norm. As you hop between states, and sometimes even countries, you learn to love your suitcase, room service, and well-intentioned cavity searches (I succumb in the name of security. Don’t judge).

Last weekend, a few of us were in Austin, attending RTX and demoing Forge by day, and battling jumping, chirping bugs by night. This week we’re in San Diego, braving both sun and beach so we can partake in the annual Comic-Con festivities.

We’ve been looking forward to SDCC for months, because we knew this was the perfect place to unveil Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn. While details up until now have been sparse, the time to share cast and storyline specifics, along with a full trailer has arrived.

As I can finally talk freely about this particular project, I have something very important to say: Daniel Cudmore is a dreamboat.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s rewind a bit and cover the basics.

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is a live-action digital series that takes you back to the beginning of the human and Covenant war and leading into the events of Halo 4. It will unfold through a series of five episodes, and will be initially distributed worldwide by Machinima, debuting on its new channel, Machinima Prime, as well as here on Halo Waypoint, on Oct. 5, 2012.

Set against the backdrop of a United Nations Space Command military academy, a group of highborn cadets are training to be the next generation of soldiers in the UNSC’s ongoing war with insurrectionists in the outer colonial planets. Among these cadets, Thomas Lasky struggles with his doubts about this war, and with the burden of expectations he may not be able to carry. As Lasky comes to terms with his potential as a military leader, the terrifying alien alliance known as the Covenant arrives and turns his world upside down. Inspired by the Master Chief, he must decide what it means to be a hero.

Halo: 4 Forward Unto Dawn Cast and Crew

Directed by Stewart Hendler (H+, Sorority Row) and written by Todd Helbing and Aaron Helbing (Smallville, Spartacus), Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn features a diverse cast of established and up-and-coming Hollywood talent, including Tom Green (Dance Academy) as Thomas Lasky, Anna Popplewell (The Chronicles of Narnia) as Chyler Silva, Daniel Cudmore (X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Twilight Saga) as the Master Chief, Ayelet Zurer (Angels & Demons, Munich) as Mehaffey, Mike Dopud (Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol) as General Black, Enisha Brewster (Footloose) as April Orenski, Masam Holden (Grey’s Anatomy, Elizabethtown) as Michael “Sully” Sullivan, Osric Chau (2012) as JJ Chen, Iain Belcher (Supernatural) as Vickers, and Kat De Lieva as Dimah.

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is backed by a top-tier production team led by executive producers Lydia Antonini and Josh Feldman, former Warner Bros. and Playtone executives, respectively. Legacy Effects (The Hunger Games, The Avengers, Avatar) is creating specialized costumes and armor, and visual effects are being designed by an award-winning team led by John Sullivan (The Pacific). Production services are provided by Herzog & Co.

Office of Halo Intelligence: Part 9

Countless people have been working day in and day out on Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, with the goal of making it something truly special. One of those people is 343 Industries Franchise Manager Kevin Grace. In between trips to Canada and California, I asked him if he would be willing to provide you with an inside look at the making of this live-action series. He said no. I then informed him that if I beat him at an arm wrestling match, he’d have to write it anyway. I’ll let you guess who came out on top that day, after you read his very special OHI entry…

Hello from sunny, crazy, excited and nervous San Diego just about 24 hours before the start of our next big drop of Halo 4 info! By the time you read this, we’ll have already gotten through the Fiction of Halo 4 panel with lots of talk of the Chief’s new story and the trouble we’re going to get him into, Halo Infinity Multiplayer and Spartan Ops’ continuing story payloads in the months after launch, and all of the scheming we’ve been doing to spin books, terminals, and even our new live-action series into the perfect mix of “what’s going to happen next?” just in time for Halo 4’s landing on 11/6. And that’s just the start for San Diego, since we have the Halo 4 gameplay panel coming up soon…

But Ms. Angel asked me here today to write up a quick intro to Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn for those who just saw the trailer or just found out about that REAL LIVE MASTER CHIEF we have running around on screen. It’s dangerous to say no to bs angel, I’ve learned (the hard way) so here goes:

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is the new live-action digital series we’ve been working on in (mostly) secret for the last year or so. The “live-action” up there means we have real live actors,a real live awesome suit of MJOLNIR armor and a real live Warthog to cruise around in. “Digital series” means that once we’re done, we’ll be bringing the show to you first on Machinima Prime (Machinima’s new YouTube channel) and Halo Waypoint once a week starting on 10/5 and leading right up to the launch of Halo 4. First viewing is on us, so to speak, so hey…why not check it out?

The story of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn hops in the way-back machine a little bit to take you about 30 years in Halo history before the games you know (Halos CE through Reach) to a moment when humanity was fighting essentially a civil war, an insurrection of the outer colonies against the colonies closer to (and including) Earth. In order to keep the officers flowing for this war, the United Nations Space Command set up the Corbulo Academy of Military Science to teach the children of the UNSC’s elite leadership how to lead the war and, just as importantly, how to believe in that war.

The “believing” part is where it breaks down for Cadet Thomas Lasky, though. He doesn’t buy that this is a justified war and his willingness to question the war doesn’t exactly make him a lot of friends at the academy. He has all kinds of potential to be a true leader, but his questions and some physical problems with cryosleep training drive him to finally deciding that the UNSC isn’t the right place for him…but right as he’s about to sign his exit papers, everything changes. The Covenant attack, almost everyone he knows dies and his only chance to survive is to trust an armored green giant he knows only as the Master Chief.

After that, it’s explosions and awesome and huge spoilers, so I won’t go any further…for now.

If you’d like to hear more about Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, check out the latest Sparkcast, which I believe should now be up for your listening enjoyment. We cover a lot in our talk with Mr. Ellis, so bs angel said we could put this write-up on pause for now to let you watch the trailer, listen to the podcast, and maybe check out the panel steam on the web. Then next week we’ll gather back here and answer some of the questions folks will have once they’ve had a chance to meet the show properly.

So if it’s ok with you, I’ll be back next week with a full report from San Diego and a small bag of answers. Okay? Okay!

Kevin

Wait, did Kevin just agree to come back next week and answer questions about Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn? I think he did! You can leave your inquiry in the discussion thread linked at the end of this Bulletin. And no, “Anna Popplewell is hawt” does not count as a question (It does count as the truth, though).

So I leave you with a brand new trailer, 

      a brand new Sparkast
 (Zune, iTunes, RSS), and some brand new pictures, all for your viewing and listening pleasure. I do hope you enjoy all the goodies.

By the way, if you’re at Comic-Con this week, stop by the booth and say hi. Halo 4 would love to make your acquaintance.

Until next week…

<3,
bs angel

Folks, if you haven’t seen the trailer, please do it, RIGHT NOW! LOL. Seriously, it’s freakin’ amazing. I’ll have more on that in a little bit in another article.