Alex Garland talks about his Halo movie script
Alex Garland made his name as the Danny Boyle's script writer for the films, The Beach and zombie flick, 28 Days later. Halo fans might also know him as the guy that was paid a million dollars by Microsoft to write the first draft of the Halo movie they and Bungie wanted to make. It eventually failed to be made.
That was quite a few years ago but Alex was asked about the script in a recent interview he did for Edge Magazine as part I of what I presume was press for his the last film he scripted, Dredd.
Did you get a taste of what that’s like in your involvement with the aborted Halo movie?
AG - I didn’t really. I mean, I got hired to write a script. I wrote the script, I handed it in and that was it.
JJ - So he's not a fan boy then....
Did you get any feedback on why D.B. Weiss was hired on to do a rewrite? What were the concerns with your draft?
AG - There were no concerns initially. That was the draft that they financed and sold, and then the concerns began. You’ve got to understand, in my working life there are two different things. There are jobs I do working for hire, which I do every now and then if I’ve got bills to pay, essentially, and then there’s the films I make with DNA, which is a completely different process. I can’t get sacked from the film Dredd. I can’t get sacked from 28 Days Later. I’m not a writer for hire. I’m coming to them with a project and saying, do you want to make it? It’s a completely different set-up on all levels.
AG - There were no concerns initially. That was the draft that they financed and sold, and then the concerns began. You’ve got to understand, in my working life there are two different things. There are jobs I do working for hire, which I do every now and then if I’ve got bills to pay, essentially, and then there’s the films I make with DNA, which is a completely different process. I can’t get sacked from the film Dredd. I can’t get sacked from 28 Days Later. I’m not a writer for hire. I’m coming to them with a project and saying, do you want to make it? It’s a completely different set-up on all levels.
So you didn’t have as much emotional investment in the Halo script?
AG - When I’m working as a writer for hire, I’ll do the best job I can, and that’s kind of it. But I’ve got much more emotional connection to a project I can’t get sacked from, where I’ve worked on it because I’ve chosen to. I doubt I’ll ever get hired to do something like that Halo script again because I’ve done it a couple of times and it’s never worked out. So why would they keep paying me money to do it? It doesn’t make any sense. I wouldn’t pay me to do it, put it that way.
AG - When I’m working as a writer for hire, I’ll do the best job I can, and that’s kind of it. But I’ve got much more emotional connection to a project I can’t get sacked from, where I’ve worked on it because I’ve chosen to. I doubt I’ll ever get hired to do something like that Halo script again because I’ve done it a couple of times and it’s never worked out. So why would they keep paying me money to do it? It doesn’t make any sense. I wouldn’t pay me to do it, put it that way.
JJ - I guess that explains the script re-write then......
I was interested to read that Garland thinks that Bioshock had one of the greatest ever stories - that's a sign he knows his stuff eh?
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