The last we heard on the Halo feature film project was from a few weeks back when rumors popped up online that Steven Spielberg would be involved with the adaptation of the record-breaking successful Microsoft/Bungee video game franchise, Halo.

At the time, it was reported that Spielberg may produce the film but Microsoft came out and clarified that the film was still on hold in order for them to focus on their upcoming installments for the Halo video game franchise: Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach.

With ODST coming out in the coming weeks, that means more marketing and more awesome videos for the franchise. On that note, we have an awesome new one to show you as well a look-back on the 7-minute short made by District 9 director, Neill Blomkamp, for Halo 3.

For those not familiar with the next installment into the Halo franchise, Halo 3: ODST is a standalone expansion to 2007’s Halo 3. This time around though, instead of playing Master Chief or his Elite friend, the Arbiter, you are merely one of the human UNSC soldiers known as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs) during the events prior to Halo 3.

Here is the awesome live-action trailer for Halo 3: ODST which again, reminds us of what we could have seen or still will see with a film adaptation:

Halo 3: ODST

Awesome, right? It’s powerful and it definitely works as a great recruitment video.

Halo 3 ODST Trailer

ODST brings a more realistic and fragile existence for the player

If you’re a Halo fan, you’ve probably seen the amazing videos that came out to promote Halo 3 a few years back, notably the 7-minute short by District 9 director, Neill Blomkamp. That video (watchable below) was very gritty and took advantage of the doc-style we saw heavily employed in District 9.

For comparison, and if you’ve not had the pleasure of watching it, here’s Blomkamp’s short, titled Halo 3: Landfall.

The first thing you’ll notice in comparing this to the new ODST video is that the ODST trailer is very cleanly shot and much more polished than Blomkamp’s short. I love both and I wouldn’t mind seeing one or the other, or a bit of both styles implemented in the Halo film, whenever it gets made.

For me, both of these videos go to show that the Halo film needs to be a movie about the soldiers, their experiences and their encounters with the legend that is Master Chief, as opposed to him doing everything as a one-dimensional character.

I don’t want to see the guy’s face, his love interest or him talking too much. That aspect should be kept like the game. Master Chief may be the protagonist in the game but he can’t act as that in the same way for the movie without ruining what’s special about him. It'd be much better if they include him in most of the movie but focus entirely on him only for his epic moments and fight sequences.

Either way, seeing videos like this give me hope that someone someday can make a movie based on a video game that does the game justice, and is awesome as a film itself.

Do you want a Halo live-action film and if so, how should the story be told?

There’s no official schedule for the Halo film yet but for the gamers our there, Halo 3: ODST hits shelves soon, on September 22, 2009. As for Halo: Reach, the prequel to the Halo trilogy and last Halo game to be made by Bungie, it’s planned to be released next fall.

Sources: IGN, MySpace