Microsoft inks deal for movie based on Halo video game

DALLAS - "Halo" hero Master Chief will be appearing in a film version of the top-selling video game franchise.

A deal announced this week with Universal Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox will pay "Halo" publisher Microsoft Corp. $5 million plus a percentage of ticket sales to produce and distribute a movie as early as the summer of 2007.

The popular sci-fi shoot-'em-up games for Microsoft's Xbox console pit Master Chief, a genetically enhanced super soldier, against vicious aliens called the Covenant.

The movie script will be penned by Alex Garland, who wrote and produced the zombie flick "28 Days Later..." Garland also wrote the novel, "The Beach," which was adapted to film in 2000. A director for "Halo" hasn't been named.

"Microsoft and the studios have worked out all the kinks, and we're ready to get cracking on the fun, creative part of the process," Joseph Staten, writer and director of cinematics at "Halo" developer Bungie Studios, said in a posting on the company's Web site.

In November, the "Halo 2" sequel had sales of $125 million in just 24 hours on the market, according to Microsoft. The series has also spawned a series of novels and action figures.

Universal Studios plans to release the film version of another popular video game, "Doom," on Oct. 21. It stars The Rock as a weapon-clad space marine who fights demonic monsters.