At Comic-Con, filmmaker reveals his Microsoft collaboration “collapsed” when film project fell apart in 2006.

Last week, Microsoft announced a new anime compilation based on its popular sci-fi series Halo. Unfortunately, the weekend also brought news that one of the most anticipated cross-media projects based on the multiplatinum series will never see the light of day. Speaking with game blog Joystiq, Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson said his long-awaited mystery Halo project, rumored to be called Halo: Chronicles, fell apart nearly three years ago.

“That Halo project is no longer happening; it sort of collapsed when the movie didn’t end up happening,” said the filmmaker, apparently referring to the film’s indefinite suspension in October 2006.

Though Microsoft had not commented on the project’s cancellation as of press time, Jackson outlined the reasons behind the project’s collapse. “Microsoft has a whole strategy with the Halo property, and when the rights expired with the two studios, that sort of ended my involvement with the project. That fell apart because of internal politics at Fox and Universal. It had nothing to do with the budget or anything else. In fact, we hadn’t even been greenlit at all at that point.”

Jackson’s comments echoed those made on Friday by Neill Blomkamp, the unknown director whom Jackson tapped when he was executive-producing the Halo film. At Comic-Con promoting his forthcoming cerebral sci-fi film District 9, Blomkamp aired an appreciation of the Halo universe, which was the inspiration for several live-action shorts he made to promote Halo 3. However, he also expressed bitterness about the Halo film’s unraveling, which he would forgo signing back onto, should the project ever emerge from the turnaround.

Jackson, who is executive-producing District 9, also discussed the merits of games versus movies with another expert on both subjects, director James Cameron, who showed off footage of his sci-fi epic Avatar at Comic-Con. The pair praised games as offering a more interactive option for entertainment during a period where the quality of big-budget films is declining. However, they agreed that games don’t yet carry the same emotional resonance as films. “As much as I love video games, you don’t cry during video games,” declared Cameron.

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