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Halo 3: Legendary Collector's Edition Box Pics

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Well, here it is. The Halo 3: Legendary Collector's Edition Box set. No idea on the pricing or the release date as of yet, but Bungie is rumored to have some "BIG" announcements this week. Coincidentally coinciding with the release of the Wii and the PS3 of course. People are speculating that the big announcement will be the Halo 3 release date. It would be nice to know. Amazon.com has it ready for preorder and has these pics up to get everyone excited.

If you haven't already noticed, the new issue of EGM is out with pics of Halo 3 in it. What does Halo 3 look like? Well, it looks like....Halo with better, more detailed, rendering. This is good because that's what we want Halo 3 to look like, the same, but better. Bungie should be posting the pics on their site soon if you don't want to pay for the mag. Or, you can search online for the leaked photos from a couple weeks ago. The Halo storm is approaching my friends!

The Hobbit and Peter Jackson

New Line Cinema and MGM are closer to beginning pre-production on two movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien's novel "The Hobbit". MGM CEO Rick Sands has been discussing the matter lately at recent conventions and has responded to fans saying "Peter Jackson's phenomenal success with The Lord of the Rings trilogy makes him the first and most ideal choice for directing The Hobbit. MGM would be thrilled to collaborate with the Academy Award-winning director on this MGM New Line Cinema production".

Hopefully he and WETA will be the ones to bring us the next installment to the universe of Middle Earth.

Halo Movie Cancelled! For Now....

The much awaited Halo movie, which was to be produced by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Microsoft, has been indefinitely "postponed" according to Jackson's rep in Variety Magazine. His exact words were:

"What happened was this: Universal, on behalf of both studios, asked for a meeting with the filmmakers just prior to the due date of a significant payment. Basically, they said that in order to move forward with the film, the filmmakers had to significantly reduce their deals. They waited until the last minute to have this conversation. Peter and Fran, after speaking with their producing partners and with Microsoft and Bungie (the studio that designed the original game), respectfully declined."

The rumors of a hefty $200 million budget have sent studios running to the hills rather than take a risk on a picture with such a high price tag. Jackson's people insist that the budget would be closer to $145 million minus the 12.5% rebate earned for filming in New Zealand, which would put the feature at around $128 million. Does that make studios feel any better about the situation? Apparently not. Unable to gather studio support, Peter Jackson's Wingnut Films has issued this statement:

"As was previously confirmed, we deeply regret that both Universal and Fox did not choose to move forward with financing the Halo film under the original terms of the agreement. At this time Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, along with their partner, Microsoft, have mutually agreed to postpone making a feature film based on the Halo video game universe until we can fulfill the promise we made to millions of Halo fans throughout the world that we would settle for no less than bringing a first class film to the big screen. We are fully supportive of Director Neill Blomkamp's vision of the film. Neill is a tremendously gifted filmmaker and his preliminary work on Halo is truly awe-inspiring. While it will undoubtedly take a little longer for Halo to reach the big screen, we are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait."

There is no telling when and if the Halo movie will ever see the light of day. It is a disappointment to both fans and those involved in the film. Pre-production had already started and Weta Workshop effects studio was already creating significant material for the movie. Chalk this up as another game to movie failure. Only time will tell if the loss is temporary or final.