From what my sources have told me over the years, Microsoft Studios and 20th Century Fox had spent over $100 million developing a feature film adaptation of Halo that eventually fell apart. In fact, Neill Blomkamp allegedly used a huge portion of the effects in his District 9, which make the reported budget of that film a complete lie. Maybe this time Microsoft will have better luck?

Universal Pictures and Microsoft are still working feverishly to get Gears of War into theaters. The latest is that they’ve hired Shane Salerno to write the screenplay, reports Deadline, adding that, when originally announced, the film would not be based on any particular game but instead be a new story set in the universe. That universe is the fictional planet of Sera, where a squad of beefed-up commandos living in a bombed-out postapocalyptic society battle swarms of alien creatures called Locusts.

Salerno’s current writing credits include the four sequels to Avatar for director James Cameron, which begin shooting in August, as well as writing and producing The Cartel for Ridley Scott to direct at 20th Century Fox, based on the bestselling Don Winslow novel. That film is eyeing a tentative January production start. His other credits include the Michael Bay-directed Armageddon and the Oliver Stone-directed Savages.