Peter Jackson talks DISTRICT 9 and HALO Movie

This is a nice short interview with District 9 producer Peter Jackson. About.com goes over some basic things with Peter, mostly things we already know. But he addresses the possibility of a Halo movie, as District 9 was born out of Jackson and director Neill Blomkamp not being able to do that project.

How did you get involved in District 9?

Well, it came to us through an unusual circumstance. Neill was supposed to be directing an adaptation of the Halo video game that we were producing. And after a few months work, that movie didn't happen for various reasons having to do with studio politics. And so we said to Neill, 'Well, is there an original idea that we can do together?,' because we wanted to make a film with him. If it wasn't going to be Halo, we wanted to do something else. So we came up with the idea of District 9. It's very much based on Neill's life experience when he was a young school kid growing up in South Africa, with a science fiction spin, obviously. It's got a lot of aliens and robots and all the cool stuff in it. But, you know, it's an interesting movie. A little bit different to what anyone would have seen before.

What I think is interesting is that the trailer gives nothing away. It's got a twist to it that no one will expect. How do you think you're going to keep from getting that revealed by somebody?

Well, I hope people just respect the idea the film' a lot more enjoyable if you don't really know what's going to happen next. It's with any movie. I think the fans, science fiction and genre fans in particular, they do regard the experience of seeing a film with a degree of importance and not revealing spoilers. So I'm hoping that everyone here certainly doesn't tell everyone about the story and the plot. It's a lot more enjoyable if you don't know what's going to happen next.

What is it about Neill that makes him a good filmmaker?

He's born to make movies. He's one of those guys who talks film, he lives and breathes film, and robots. He loves robots. Films and robots - good combination. Born to make movies.

Is Halo totally dead? We're not ever going to see that?

No, I'm sure there will be a Halo movie at some stage. Microsoft has got the rights and I think they're figuring out what they're going to do with Halo and how it's working out the games and how the films are going to fit in. I'm sure at some point there will be a Halo film. I would hope so.

Click Here for the video version.

Damn you studio politics! A Halo Movie is inevitable. Microsoft would be idiots not to do one. But how hot do they think the iron is gonna get before they strike? We reported a a couple of weeks ago that writer Stuart Beattie has a script ready.

If you've seen the commercials(shorts), Neill Blomkamp did for Halo 3, then you know that he and Jackson would and should be the guys handling the material. Here it is if you haven't seen it before: