X05: Peter Jackson to executive-produce Halo film

As well as a raft of product announcements, Microsoft used tonight's X05 press conference to reveal that it has arranged for Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh to work as executive producers on the Halo film.

As well as contributing to its production, Jackson will also lend the use of his Weta film studio to work on the special effects. Like Jackson, Weta has previously worked on the Lord of the Rings trilogy and this Christmas's King Kong.

The Halo film, due out in 2007, is the product of a script by Alex Garland, who was paid $1 million for his work, and was shopped around to various film studios earlier this year before Universal and 20th Century Fox agreed a deal to work on it collaboratively with Microsoft.

The two film studios will split the revenues equally, while paying Microsoft $5 million and 10 per cent of the film's gross.