Caffeinated Clint
Even if you don’t get paid for something, it can still be worth doing – look at me, I use to take my clothes off and run around the sprinkler in my backyard for kicks.. and now there’s actual currency being offered whenever I propose doing that! (granted, the cash is offered to keep the clothes on and the sprinkler off).
Stuart Beattie, celebrated scribe of blockbuster-aplenty, wrote a feature based on the “Halo” video game series a few years ago… for himself. That’s right, nobody but himself. But as luck would have it, the “Collateral” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” scribe is now working on the small-screen version of “Halo” – for none other than Steven Spielberg – and it all came about because the powers-that-be got hold of his dog-eared spec from years ago.
I spoke to Beattie today for the upcoming DVD and Blu-ray release of “I, Frankenstein” and he had this to say about working with Sirs Spielberg and Madame Showtime on the anticipated series.
What have you been working on since I, Frankenstein?
I’m adapting Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I did 4 episodes of the new mini-series Deadline Gallipoli with Sam Worthington, I did the Bat out of Hell stage musical – which kicks off in 2016, and I’m working on a massive TV show called Halo.
Weren’t you involved in the film version of that?
No, I was never officially involved in the feature. When the writer’s strike was on a few years ago, I wrote a Halo movie script – but it was basically only for myself, because I was such a big fan. I knew there was no money in it, because it was someone else’s property. But the script got shown around town, and when the Halo TV show got up, they gave me a call. We’re using a big 70-pager bible I wrote on the world of Halo. It just shows you that if you write from the heart – even if there’s nothing initially in it for you – it can lead somewhere. But this show is going to be big – it’s Spielberg and its Showtime.
I believe the deal for “Halo” involves XBox Studios and Spielberg’s Amblin TV Banner teaming to produce the series, which would then air on Showtime and Xbox. Word is the first two episodes would air on Showtime, then the rest would play on Xbox.
