LOS ANGELES, CA—Hollywood screenwriter Stuart Beattie (Pirates of the Caribbean, G.I. Joe) is a huge fan of Halo. So much so that during last year's writers' strike, he sat down and penned a new movie that serves as a prequel to the first game. Beattie, who officially penned the Gears of War screenplay for New Line Cinema last year, wrote Halo on his own. But he sent a copy to Bungie and they liked it and he's currently talking to Microsoft about the potential of bringing this vision to the big screen. Beattie sat down for an exclusive interview and gives his take on what the Halo movie should be.

GameDaily BIZ: One of the big riffs about Halo early on from Hollywood producers I've spoken with was that the movie borrowed too much from Aliens...

Stu Beattie likes Halo... a lot

Stuart Beattie: So? There's a whole school of thought that says, "Brilliant!" (Laughs)

BIZ: Why do you think Microsoft wasn't able to get this movie off the ground with Peter Jackson attached and 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures on board?

SB: I wasn't involved so I don't know specifically why it fell apart, but I do know Hollywood is a numbers game. There's certainly going to be an interest in a huge IP like Halo, but there's going to be a point where the numbers just don't add up any more. From what I had read, the budget kept going higher and higher and all of the back-ends were going to everyone but the people who were putting up the money to make the movie. And it just got to the breaking point because it was no longer fiscally responsible to make. These movies are a business.

"The audience is trying to figure out everything at the same time as the characters are. What are these aliens? Why are they killing us? What did we do? And realizing it's all about this Halo ring. And then ending the movie where the first game begins."

BIZ: Where does your Halo movie fit in with everything?

SB: The Halo movie in its initial incarnation is dead. No one is pursuing it any more. When the writers guild strike hit last year I suddenly had three months to write a Halo script. I always had this vision of doing Halo: The Fall of Reach, which is a prequel to the first game. It sets up a world 500 years in the future and we have colonies, there's the UNSC, there's the secret Spartan training program. And you see this six-year-old kid kidnapped in the middle of the night.

BIZ: And where does Master Chief fit into all of this?

SB: The character doesn't start off as Master Chief. He starts off as John, who's the kid that's kidnapped and told he's going to be a soldier. Anyone can connect with a kid kidnapped from his own home. You're along for that journey. The Covenant comes along halfway through that movie. That gives you half the movie to really get to know everyone and care about everyone. And then when the Covenant come along, it's the first time John sees a grunt or a jackal or an elite. The audience is trying to figure out everything at the same time as the characters are. What are these aliens? Why are they killing us? What did we do? And realizing it's all about this Halo ring. And then ending the movie where the first game begins.