May 28, 2006 – According to TeamXbox, the Halo movie has been changed to a 2008 release: The directorless film adaptation of Microsoft’s popular video game will be executive produced by triple-Academy Award winners Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh via their WingNut Films banner. The Halo script was penned by Alex Garland (28 Days Later), who was paid $1 million by Microsoft to write a script that met Bungie’s approval. [More]
Category: Peter Jackson
Sideshow Collectibles has posted a poll asking ‘Which character is the most tragic?’ While the list is limited to the licenses they carry, KING KONG and LOTR characters do make an appearance. TORnadoes will probably prefer the ‘Boromir’ option. The poll is located in the red bar on the right side of their homepage. Cast your vote!
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It’s not quite an Oscar, but winning a Wellington Region Gold Award is still an outstanding achievement for Park Road Post. The Peter Jackson-owned post-production facility for the film industry won the award for Creative Gold at the awards two weeks ago. Marketing and brand director Gareth Ruck said: “To be seen to be within the top (of Wellington business) is very important to us”. “To be recognised at the top in a city that is recognised at the top creatively: it’s a big buzz.” “We are proud Wellingtonians and we support Wellington film-makers.” [More]
Naomi Watts will join Viggo Mortensen for the London-based thriller Eastern Promises. David Cronenberg will direct the script by Steven Knight, which delves into the same seedy underside of London life that Knight explored in Dirty Pretty Things. Watts will play a midwife at a London hospital who gets dragged into the criminal underworld when she tries to discover the identity of a dead patient. The movie will begin filming in November.
Two New Zealand films have been ranked among the top 10 wordwide in terms of 2005 box office revenue. In its annual report on world film market trends released this week Cannes European Cinema ranked The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe seventh and King Kong eighth. Narnia made US$428 ($695) million and King Kong US$388 ($630) million, despite being released only in December. [More]
Actor Christopher Lee has agreed to put aside his differences with Kiwi director Peter Jackson – but will never forgive him for axing his scenes from The Return of the King. Speaking exclusively to the Herald on Sunday at the Rose d’Or festival in Switzerland last night, Lee revealed that while he was still upset by the decision to remove his character, Saruman, from the third instalment of the Lord of the Rings series, it was now time to move on. “When the third film came along and I wasn’t in it, I didn’t understand,” he said. “And I still don’t. “However, you can have a difference of opinion in any walk of life but you can’t have ongoing arguments. I like Peter very much. He’s a brilliant director. I just don’t know why he did what he did.” [More]