Spielberg wants Halo?

It’s not a secret that Steven Spielberg is into videogames, both as a gamer himself and producer of the Medal of Honor and Boom Blox series, and even going back to the old-school SCUMM game The Dig (I’ve spied him myself at past Electronic Entertainment Expos). But is he also into Peter Jackson’s sloppy seconds?

IESB says that Spielberg is “in active negotiations” to get his hands on the immensely popular HALO game franchise to resuscitate the deceased movie. Spielberg is apparently hoping he can take Master Chief further than his TINTIN partner could with Fox and Universal.

Spielberg (who presumably would just be producing) apparently flipped for writer Stuart Beattie’s spec script for the story of Microsoft’s faceless hero and his fellow soldiers fighting evil aliens on a giant space hoop. Whether the pricey project can respawn with the now-funded Dreamworks and their new home at Disney remains the big question.

Gotta admit I really just don’t understand the obsession with the HALO series myself, or why it would make an interesting movie beyond a purely visual appeal, but maybe a guy like Spielberg could bring something extra to it.