I can hear the tears falling, the hearts breaking of Halo fans all over..
Universal and Fox tried to pull Microsoft and the film makers to accept a pay cut, apparently in response to an upward spiral of estimated production costs stretching Babel-like into the sky from the base of the original $135 million guesstimate. Rumors brought that number up to $200 million.

Apparently, Peter Jackson's still in hopes forward on the project, doing pre-production work at his studios in New Zealand. Talks continue with other potential partners. Jon Polito has been cast as the Master Chief.