Is all this talk about a Halo film still going on? Apparently so, as the rumour mill now says that the one and only Steven Spielberg – taking over from Peter Jackson - has got himself involved. If true we could be seeing Master Chief shooting Covenant troops on the big screen after all.

IESB, a film news site, has a source that says Spielberg is currently in active negotiations to oversee the production of a Halo film. Spielberg is apparently “blown away” by a screenplay written by Stuart Beattie, which is largely based on the novel Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund. The novel is Master Chief’s origin story, and if a film were to be based off it then it would most likely do a Judge Dredd and have Master Chief take off his helmet.

If the rumours are true then Spielberg is only in talks to produce the film and not direct it, so that obviously leaves the way open for your director predictions. Whoever that may be you have to bet that with Spielberg on the team the film should turn out at least moderately good. Spielberg is also a video games fan, having helped develop the Boom Blox games, so hopefully you’d have to hope that he would do the Halo franchise justice and not have it turn out to be another horrible film based on a video game.

Microsoft was quick to respond to the rumours, releasing the following statement to Kotaku;

“We’re glad there’s still a lot of enthusiasm in the entertainment industry surrounding the idea of a Halo movie. That said, the Halo feature film remains on hold as we focus on projects like Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach.” - Kotaku

At least they’re not saying the film is cancelled outright, which leaves some hope for Halo fans expecting to see a film within the next two years or so.

While you may not be getting any Halo film love anytime soon maybe you can at least be somewhat happy that a Dead Space film is in the works. Of course, there’s always the future World of Warcraft film – directed by the Spider-Man films Sam Raimi – to look forward to.

IESB Exclusive: Master Chief and HALO May Be Coming to the Big Screen Sooner than Expected with a New Big Name Producer - IESB