{"id":2152,"date":"2012-07-14T02:50:35","date_gmt":"2012-07-14T07:50:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/?p=2152"},"modified":"2012-07-14T02:50:35","modified_gmt":"2012-07-14T07:50:35","slug":"halo-4-forward-unto-dawn-will-be-the-first-halo-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/?p=2152","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn\u2019 will be the first \u2018Halo\u2019 movie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Text from\u00a0herocomplex.latimes.com<\/a>\u00a0by Ben Fritz<\/p>\n

Microsoft\u2019s blockbuster \u201cHalo\u201d 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 \u201cspace marine\u201d 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\u2019 2006 attempt to develop a big-budget \u201cHalo\u201d movie fizzled over budget concerns.<\/p>\n

Now \u201cHalo\u201d has gone in front of the cameras, but without any movie studio assistance. Microsoft has produced a Web series, called \u201cHalo 4: Forward Unto Dawn,\u201d which will premiere this October in five episodes leading up to the release of the \u201cHalo 4\u201d video game. The segments will then be collected, along with 15 minutes of additional footage, into a 90-minute feature film. Microsoft will announce \u201cForward Unto Dawn\u201d and preview it to fans at Comic-Con International in San Diego during a panel Thursday.<\/p>\n

Financed at a cost insiders pegged as between $5 million and $10 million, \u201cForward Unto Dawn\u201d represents the technology giant\u2019s first significant step forward into the traditional entertainment world. Its backers hope the step will allow 343 Industries, the Microsoft subsidiary that oversees everything \u201cHalo,\u201d to tell new types of stories and reach new audiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want this piece to do all the things that a game, by virtue of being a game, can\u2019t,\u201d said producer Lydia Antonini, a former Warner Bros. executive who is one of several experienced Hollywood hands Microsoft hired. \u201cWhen you have real people, you can have real stakes and make connections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Produced over five weeks this past spring in Vancouver, \u201cForward Unto Dawn\u201d is a prequel story that portrays the first invasion by the Covenant, an alien force that has been the primary enemy in \u201cHalo\u201d games thus far. Set in a military academy, the futuristic science-fiction series focuses on a young trainee who will also appear in \u201cHalo 4\u201d and other upcoming games.<\/p>\n

The cast includes Australian actor Tom Green, relatively unknown in the U.S., as its lead. Daniel Cudmore, who played Colossus in two \u201cX-Men\u201d movies and was in the most recent \u201cTwilight\u201d film, costars as Master Chief. Other cast members aren\u2019t household names but have appeared in everything from \u201cFootloose\u201d to \u201cSupernatural\u201d to \u201cThe Chronicles of Narnia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Director Stewart Hendler, who previously made the horror movie \u201cSorority Row\u201d and science-fiction Web series \u201cH+,\u201d said his goal was to temper a franchise known in the game world for over-the-top action and grandiose plots.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to bring a sense of reality and gravity to the world,\u201d he explained while editing the series in a North Hollywood office. \u201cEverything from the performances to the aesthetics should be tethered to a sense of authenticity and grittiness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Key to that ambition, the filmmakers said, was using computer effects as little as possible. All the \u201cHalo\u201d hardware \u2014 from Master Chief\u2019s armor to the \u201cMA5\u201d gun, Warthog vehicle, and Pelican drop ship \u2014 was made with real materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hope is that nobody will look at a frame of this and go, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s a green screen,\u2019\u201d said producer Josh Feldman. \u201cWe built a disproportionate amount of our sets and brought in a visual effects supervisor who won an Emmy for \u2018The Pacific.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

An inspiration, the filmmakers said, has been the popular live-action commercials used to promote previous \u201cHalo\u201d games. An ad for 2009\u2019s \u201cHalo 3: ODST\u201d helped to win director Rupert Sanders the director\u2019s job on this summer\u2019s big-budget tentpole film \u201cSnow White and the Huntsman.\u201d<\/p>\n

In producing \u201cForward Unto Dawn,\u201d 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 \u201cAssassin\u2019s Creed\u201d franchise, French game publisher Ubisoft recently recruited \u201cX-Men: First Class\u201d star Michael Fassbender to play the lead character in a movie version it is developing. Like \u201cHalo,\u201d the \u201cAssassin\u2019s Creed\u201d movie is being developed without a Hollywood studio.<\/p>\n

While the primary business of \u201cHalo\u201d is still selling video games, Microsoft executives say they don\u2019t see their foray into live action as a purely promotional move. \u201cIt\u2019s really important to us that this is a stand-alone product that can make money on its own,\u201d said Matt McCloskey, director of franchise business management for 343.<\/p>\n

Toward that end, Microsoft licensed 343 to Machinima.com, the game website and YouTube channel. That will be the only place to watch \u201cForward Unto Dawn\u201d webisodes, beginning Oct. 5, save for Microsoft Xbox 360 consoles connected to the Internet.<\/p>\n

When put together into a film, the \u201cHalo\u201d movie will be given away free with limited editions of \u201cHalo 4,\u201d and be available to rent or buy on DVD, Blu-ray and in digital stores.<\/p>\n

Millions of hard-core \u201cHalo\u201d 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. \u201cThey were checking every costume stitch, the placement of LEDs on the guns, and the bevels on the visors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But if \u201cForward Unto Dawn\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things we\u2019re trying to do is reach new audiences,\u201d said 343 franchise development director Frank O\u2019Connor. \u201cIf Mom watches, she\u2019ll completely understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Ben Fritz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Text from\u00a0herocomplex.latimes.com\u00a0by Ben Fritz Microsoft\u2019s blockbuster \u201cHalo\u201d 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 \u201cspace marine\u201d protagonist who wields two guns … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-written-word"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2153,"href":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152\/revisions\/2153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}