While Microsoft and Wingnut Studios had previously strongly committed to making a Halo movie a reality, despite losing financial backing from Universal Studios and Fox, today the two issued a joint statement claiming that the feature would be postponed. Gamasutra reported on the press release, which in part states:

We are fully supportive of Director Neill Blomkamp’s vision of the film. Neill is a tremendously gifted filmmaker and his preliminary work on Halo is truly awe-inspiring. While it will undoubtedly take a little longer for Halo to reach the big screen, we are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait.”

While disappointing for Halo fans, the stalling of production is not unusual in the film world. Neither Microsoft nor Wingnut Studios discussed how this would affect Peter Jackson’s Halo tie-in game for the movie, but it would be safe to assume that this would be delayed as well.