Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is weaving a tighter bond with Microsoft Corp. by creating a video game studio. In addition to exec producing the upcoming Halo feature film for Microsoft, 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures, Jackson and writing/producing partner Fran Walsh will develop new Xbox 360 titles, including a new Halo game, through their New Zealand-based Wingnut Interactive Studio.
The Halo game Jackson and Walsh are creating will be different from Halo 3, which is currently in development a Bungie Studio, the shop behind the fist two blockbuster games. Aimed less at hardcore gamers, the as-yet untitled game will be developed by Bungie with writing and direction input from the Wingnut team. Gamers can look for it in 2008, following Halo 3‘s 2007 debut. Fans of the franchise can also look forward to Halo Wars, a real-time strategy game being developed by Ensemble Studios (Age of Empires).
Jackson got his feet wet in the games biz by directing Ubisoft’s 2005 release based on his remake of King Kong. Working closely with Microsoft, his Wingnut Interactive is set to begin work on its first original Xbox 360 title, which Microsoft will publish.
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