Lucky it didn't actually get made, otherwise this could have escalated into horse heads and drive-by shootings. The Deadline Hollywood Daily is reporting that Universal and Fox, who "agreed" to split the $12 million in pre-production costs of the abortive Halo movie, are fighting over the cash.

The details are messy, but to surmise, it went like this:

Fox: You ready? A HALO MOVIE. You, me, we split the costs, we GET THIS THING DONE.

Universal: Yes. YES. Anything to get this movie made. A Halo movie is SO going to KICK ASS. All those GUNS and SPACESHIPS and ALIENS and EXPLOSIONS...YES.

Fox: Cool, cool. Except...I ain't got the cash on me. You cover me for now, I got you back later, alright?

Universal: Uh...OK, all good. LET'S DO THIS!

[$12,000,000 on pre-production costs later, the movie goes nowhere]

Universal: Where's my money? Huh? WHERE'S MY F***IN' MONEY?

Fox: ......

I'm no film industry pundit, but isn't $12 million, like, spare change? Why the beef? Luke Plunkett

Universal & Fox Fighting Over 'Halo' $$$ [Deadline Hollywood Daily, via Evil Avatar]

Send an email to the author of this post at plunkett@kotaku.com.