Halo composer wants to score the movie, doesn't think Hollywood will approach him

A blockbuster Hollywood adaptation of Halo is almost definitely heading to theaters, and the game's music composer wants in on the action. However, he feels the chances of being invited to work on the project are slim.

Marty O'Donnell, the man behind Halo's musical score, said in a recent interview, "I would love to score the Halo movie. No doubt about it. I think that would be great."

"I feel like, knowing Hollywood just a little bit, they would most likely say, 'We have to have a tried and true Hollywood composer' and 'These themes are appropriate for games but not appropriate for movies.' Or something like that."

And he may be right - it seems unlikely that the film's producers would go with a composer who lacks silver screen experience. O'Donnell, however, doesn't think that should be a barrier, and asserts that composing a game score requires all the same skills as composing a film score, and then some.

"It's technically harder. In my opinion, you have to have all the same chops that you have for linear media and then you have this other added technical and artistic vision to make it adaptive and interactive and all the rest," he said.

While a generic score might fly in other film adaptations, Halo's music is too highly-regarded and recognized to ignore. It would almost be unthinkable to create a movie and not use the game's signature score. But will the guys down in their movie studio cabanas and golf carts pay attention to that?

"I think Hollywood is sort of an insular place and their friends hire their friends and people that they're comfortable with," said O'Donnell.

I personally think it would be a travesty if O'Donnell was not at least asked to be a consultant for the big-screen project. If I can't start humming along to the music in the background at some point, I'll be sorely disappointed.

[Source: Industry Gamers]

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Mar 24, 2011