In May of last year when they announced the Xbox One, Microsoft announced that Steven Spielberg would be producing a live-action television series based on the ‘Halo’ franchise that would be exclusive to the console. Since then, there hasn’t been much development on the project, but now rumors have emerged regarding who would be directing the pilot episode.

According to Latino Review, this adaptation of the popular Xbox game series featuring Master Chief has come full circle by bringing in ‘Elysium’ director Neill Blomkamp to helm the pilot for the TV adaptation of the game. Back in 2007 when Peter Jackson was attached to produce a movie for the game, Blomkamp created a few short films to advertise ‘Halo 3’ and was attached to direct the feature as well. However, the deal fell through and the relatively new filmmaker left the project to make his acclaimed debut film ‘District 9’. Now, it looks like that the director will get his chance to share his vision of the franchise after all if the rumors are true.

Recently, Microsoft’s Phil Spector shared that the company is taking the ‘Halo’ series very seriously and they intend on handling it with care in whatever forms of media they expand it with. He said the following in an interview with Total Xbox:

“I definitely don’t think of it as filler; ‘Halo’, you could argue, is the most important entertainment IP that Microsoft owns. I can’t use the word filler anywhere near ‘Halo’, it just won’t work. If we’re gonna do a television series with Halo, we’re gonna do it the right way, and we’re gonna do it because we think it really matters.”

While no official announcement has been made at this time, this rumor doesn’t sound completely farfetched. It’s been said that Blomkamp’s novice status and his vision for the film weren’t what film studios were looking for, but now that Microsoft is in control of the project, maybe the company was a fan of his visually stunning work and the director’s vision is more in line with what they’re looking for to protect the integrity of such a cherished property. We won’t know for sure until press releases are sent out or big press conferences are planned, but the guy behind ‘District 9’ definitely wouldn’t be the worst choice for this.

What do you think about Neil Blomkamp directing the pilot of Steven Spielberg’s ‘Halo’? Is he the right choice to finally breathe life into Master Chief and his compatriots? Share your thoughts in the comments below.