Update: I apologize, I haven't been online much due to the holidays. I realized that there was an erroneous data point for Andrew Stanton in 2009 that was never supposed to be there. I missed it when I initially looked over the graph, but it's been removed now.

As we've been reflecting on the last ten years, we've been asking ourselves whether any true "masters" of science fiction and urban fantasy have emerged, especially in film and television. It's certainly been a decade of highs and lows, of old masters who've begun to fade and bright new stars just cresting the horizon.

To that end, I've attempted to chart the relative "master levels" of various directors and television producers over the several years. This is an utterly unscientific chart; I looked at the projects these folks have had since 2000 and assigned each one a "master level." The number reflects my understanding of the projects acclaim, its ability to attract an audience (i.e. box office/Nielsen numbers), its awards, whether it succeeded in something unusual (such as a relatively popular foreign language film in the case of Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth or Dr. Horrible's status as a breakthrough web film), and the nebulous sense that it add or subtracted from the individual's "geek cred." The numbers themselves are largely subjective and, of course, you should feel free to nitpick.

The greater purpose was to offer a watercolory sense of whether any "masters" have emerged from this crowd. Certainly, the last year has brought low some of the genres' promising potentials. Joss Whedon entered into the decade riding high on a Buffy/Angel cocktail. Though his name wasn't enough to overcome Fox's confusing treatment of Firefly, but the show's eventual cult popularity led to the Serenity feature film, and the Whedon brand helped make Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog an important moment for web-based content. Perhaps this all made Dollhouse — which has been, by turns, frustrating and brilliant — all the more disappointing, its impeding demise fairly readily accepted, even by Whedon's fanbase. Similarly, Ron Moore's Battlestar Galactica, despite being regarded by some readers as the most overrated scifi of the decade, was regarded by many as a turning point for smart, politically savvy space opera. But a rocky final season punctuated by finale filled with dei ex machinae left a lot of folks sour on the entire series. And the Wachowskis, while doing a solid (though Alan Moore-enraging) bit of cinema with V for Vendetta, never quite lived up to the promises of The Matrix.

But there have been plenty of masterful bright spots as well. Bryan Fuller gave us some beautiful urban fantasy with shows with Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, and Pushing Daisies, even if many of his efforts (including the truly amazing The Amazing Screw-On Head) were prematurely axed, or shafted before ever getting off the ground. Guillermo del Toro brought us to great heights with Pan's Labyrinth, even if his other eye candy films didn't hit the same heights.

So have we seen any masters? Peter Jackson has certainly come close. Granted, The Lord of the Rings movies are high fantasy, but they showcased Jackson's ability to handle a difficult epic in a way that not only pleased JRR Tolkien's fans, but also won him mainstream accolades. And his remake of King Kong, which should have been automatically anathema, proved both profitable and well-reviewed. The Lovely Bones has been his blip, earning him his worst reviews in 20 years. But it's more likely that 2009 will be remembered as the year Jackson introduced the world to filmmaker Neill Blomkamp, demonstrating that he has a good eye for new talent and the Hollywood cache to bring that talent to light. It's not for nothing that he made this year's power list.

Another power list member, JJ Abrams, has also given us a good spate of fun and thoughtful science fiction. While he didn't give us the decade's best monster movie, he did manage to reboot the Star Trek franchise in a way that was respectful to what came before and drew in folks who never turned into the TV shows. Of course, we still have yet to see as Lost will end and whether Fringe will survive.

Chris Nolan is on the list of promising possibilities for eventual masterhood. Although Memento wasn't science fiction, it took a "what if" concept (here, what if a man searching for his wife's killer had no short term memory) and portrayed it in a thoughtful, suspenseful, and ultimately heartbreaking way. And he not only shot fresh blood into the corpse of the Batman franchise, he made it Oscar-worthy. And now he's continuing the science fiction thread with Inception.

And, of course, there's the question of whether James Cameron will prove the kind of science fiction as much as he claimed to be the king of the world. His foray into science fiction television, Dark Angel, never fared particularly well in the ratings; it was eventually canceled in favor of Firefly, and it never achieved the posthumous popularity of the later show. But perhaps Avatar is the reinforcement of his previous scifi successes, proof that he can still be relevant where other long-time directors have started to fade away. Hopefully, we won't have to wait another 12 years to see his next installment.

Personally, though, after seeing the delightful Monsters Inc. followed by the superb The Incredibles and WALL-E, I have my fingers crossed for Andrew Stanton and Pixar Studios. Here's hoping that John Carter of Mars is something phenomenal.

Still, singling out directors and producers as possible masters might be missing the point entirely, even when we're talking about movies and TV. Alan Moore might well be your science fiction master, not just because he has written so many fantastic books, but also because those books have captured the imagination of so many directors in the last several years — albeit with varying results. And in the coming years we'll see how comic book writer Brian K. Vaughan — who has been working on Lost as well as the Buffy Season Eight comics — translates to the big screen when Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, and Runaways hit theaters.

So who, if anyone, do you see as your science fiction master? Someone from the list above? Perhaps Russell T. Davis for reviving and expanding Doctor Who? Or maybe writers like Jane Espenson, who have worked on so many of the shows we love? And, with filmmakers like Neill Blomkamp and Duncan Jones arriving on the scene, who might prove themselves master of the genre in the next ten years?

Graph by Steph Fox.

Here's a bonus chart, with more data:

The Jackson project had been announced in September 2006 but never a screenshot nor gameplay detail was released in the three years since. The proposed Halo movie which Jackson was set to produce ran afoul of financing complications, as Jackson told Kotaku.

Last week, Jackson confirmed the game was dead, saying that it "sort of collapsed when the movie didn't end up happening."

In 2006, Jackson had expressed high hopes for the project, stating:

"My vision, together with Microsoft Game Studios, is to push the boundaries of game development and the future of interactive entertainment. From a movie-maker's point of view, it is clear to me that the Xbox 360 platform is the stage where storytellers can work their craft in the same way they do today with movies and books but taking it further with interactivity."

We asked Microsoft for an update about Jackson's scuttled Halo game and whether the project may live on without the filmmaker. This is what they had to say:

"Microsoft Game Studios is deeply committed to supporting and strategically growing the Halo franchise, and our relationship with Peter and his team is something that we greatly value. Given the bandwidth of both of our companies we've decided to put this joint effort on hold and prioritize resources against other projects like "Halo 3: ODST," "Halo: Reach" and "Halo Legends."

Peter Jackson tells Joystiq about the Halo movie, video game project [Joystiq]

The buzz grew as fans, and Hollywood, questioned Jackson's choice of first-time director Neill Blomkamp to helm the big-budget project. But that ultimately became a moot point. As the movie budget escalated and the demands by Microsoft increased, not even a pair of giant Hollywood studios could afford to foot the bill for the big screen version of Halo. But fate stepped in and Jackson ended up creating an original sci-fi film with District 9.

Gamers will get to see a sci-fi collaboration between producer Jackson and co-writer/director Blomkamp this summer with Tristar Pictures' District 9. Rather than basing the film on a hit game, the duo created an original alien story and filmed it documentary-style. Jackson was on hand at Comic-Con to screen the film and talk about how Halo begat District 9.

Jackson and Blomkamp were going to bring Microsoft's Halo videogame franchise to the big screen, but when Hollywood bailed on Microsoft's demands, the duo ended up creating District 9, which opens August 14.

"Well, I believe in fate. And a lot of times in my career I've just let fate decide what happens," said Jackson. "I don't try to influence things too much. ‘Cause I kind of believe in some weird force that's out there, sort of deciding what happens in your life. And I just look back on it and think, well fate made a decision that it wasn't gonna be Halo that we made, it was gonna be District 9. 'Cause it literally happened within 24 hours. I mean, we woke up one morning thinking we were making Halo. That day we got the news that the studios, Fox and Universal, didn't want to make the film anymore."

When asked exactly what happened with the Halo film, Jackson replied, "It wasn't like the studios didn't want to make it with us, they just didn't want to make Halo anymore because they were arguing amongst themselves and with Microsoft and the rights and the deals and everything else. It was all these little politics that were kicking in."

District 9 is set in South Africa and focuses on a quarantined area where aliens have been kept for 30 years. The film literally took shape the same day that Jackson's Halo was scrapped.

"During the course of that day, 'cause we were all in New Zealand together…Neill had been working on Halo for five or six months, we decided to take control of our own lives a little bit and we thought, ‘Well, let's make an original movie. Let's keep it low budget. Let's try to finance it independently so we don't have to get involved with studio politics,'" explained Jackson. "It's sort of, do something that we can control without putting ourselves into a Halo situation again. And that's what happened. And so by the end of that day, we had lost Halo but we had started District 9."
Jackson is best known to fans for adapting the Lord of the Rings trilogy to films. He's currently producing Guillermo del Toro's Hobbit film adaptations. Jackson, who is an avid gamer, equates books and videogame adaptations on the same level.

"If it's a book or a videogame, even though you've had the experience of reading or playing that story, it's affected you, and now you can imagine it as a film," said Jackson.
"I also see the role of video games as one that will continue to command respect and attention due to the improved graphics, forms of narrative, interactive capabilities, and ways of immersion."

Jackson, who has worked with Ubisoft on the King Kong videogame and currently has a deal with Microsoft to create original games through WETA Interactive, believes that intrinsically, most videogames, and virtually all movies, do one basic thing: tell stories.

As game technology improves, Jackson believes games will become even more cinematic experiences. One result of HD graphics and advances in sound will be the sharing of digital assets between game developers and filmmakers, which will create more authentic representations of movie-based games.

One of the big themes at Comic-Con this year was the explosion of 3-D films, including the new TRON and Avatar movies. Jackson is interested in embarking in the third dimension with future projects.

"I personally love 3-D," said Jackson. "I love the fact that it's become a much more gentle experience than it used to be. It always had this kind of eye strain and lack of quality associated with it. It was sort of gimmicky and difficult. But now it's technically become easier and it's also much more…it doesn't give you bad headaches anymore. And I think 3-D is just another really great tool to help an audience step into the movie."

"When I'm a filmmaker, I try to make movies that invite the audience to step into the film and to become part of the world of the film, if I can," added Jackson. "Rather than be an audience, I try to take that barrier away so you're not just sitting watching something like a sports event on a TV screen. You're actually participating. I try to shoot my scenes in a way and move the camera around in a way that sort of invites you into the movie to some degree. And 3-D is just a tool that makes that easier. It makes it more vibrant. I haven't shot a feature in 3-D yet, but I'm certainly looking forward to doing that."

Fans can see Jackson's latest directing venture, The Lovely Bones starring Mark Wahlberg, on the big screen December 11.

The movie is slated for 2012, which isn't enough time to tackle the game version as well del Toro explains. According to the director:

It's too ambitious to try and tackle that along with The Hobbit. We have such tight release dates.

Del Toro says that he and his team will be involved in The Hobbit game, but adds that he won't be as involved as he'd liked to be. Understandable, we hear he has a day job. Something about being a big time Hollywood director? Dunno.

Del Toro: New ‘Hobbit' Game Will Have to Wait [Multiplayer via VG247]

We first mentioned Jackson's other, other movie back in 2007. Now you get a chance to check out the trailer, which sort of makes it look like an indie college movie.

District 9 [Apple, thanks Nathaniel]

Our very reliable sources tell us that Payton has been hired by Microsoft to be the creative director on the upcoming, and still not dead, Peter Jackson Halo game.

The news, very reliable news, comes weeks after we broke the news that Gearbox Director of Technology Corrinne Yu had been hired by Microsoft Game Studios to be Principle Engine Architect for Microsoft's Halo Franchise Team.

Rumor had it at the time that Yu and her husband, Kenneth Scott were both joining Microsoft Game Studios. Scott is an art director at id Software.

Payton, assistant producer on Metal Gear Solid 4, has been credited with spearheading a more Western approach to controls for Metal Gear Solid 4, making the game far more approachable and much tighter than the previous installment. He also helped warm the MGS4 team up to more Western developed games like Gears of War as well.

We heard back from Microsoft and they hit us up with "Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation.” Which in Microsoft speak is almost tantamount to a confirmation.

[Pic]

We've been told by several industry sources that Yu was part of a package deal. She, and her husband, Kenneth Scott are both joining Microsoft Game Studios. Scott is an art director at id Software, most recently working on Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.

But why does it matter that Corrinne Yu is headed for Microsoft Game Studios? Let's look at the tech Gearbox is using and deduce from that. Brothers in Arms, Aliens: Colonial Marines and Borderlands all use Unreal Engine 3 — with Borderlands using a heavily modded version of the Unreal Engine 3. Sources tell us that Yu has been staffed to work on the Peter Jackson Halo game, which Microsoft is still in the planning stages of. The company is ready to kick that project into full gear. (Remember this job ad?)

And since Microsoft Game Studios is doing the Peter Jackson Halo game, that means the chances of Microsoft using Bungie's proprietary, in-house "Halo 3 Engine" are slim at best. Though, if she's not bringing her Unreal Engine 3 expertise to Microsoft's internal studio, she could very well be working on a new in-house engine specifically for the Peter Jackson game.

[Pic]

Direct the tone and timber of the project with an eye towards compelling character development, visionary narrative progression, and addictive gameplay
Partner with key Hollywood talent to collaboratively craft a masterful game experience
Bridge the gap between storytelling and the interactive experience while delivering on the Halo soul.
Collaborate with game play designers, story writers, game writers, and said external luminary to deliver on a unique game in the Halo universe...

So that might be Peter Jackson — unless Microsoft has roped in other "key Hollywood talent" and not told anyone. Microsoft's been pretty bad about not telling us what's going on with the new Halo games.

Job Listing [Gamasutra via 1Up]

New Halo game for E3 [CVG]

Bungie is said to "continue to remain very much involved in multiple aspects the Halo Universe as part of our ongoing relationship with Microsoft", teasing that one of their in-progress projects will be revealed "in the very near future." Perhaps it's that Halo prequel that EGM taunted us with? Is it the future yet?!?

Bungie Weekly Update 04/25/08 [Bungie]

The job listings, all of which are linked to at the MTV Multiplayer report, are light on concrete details. They look to be intentionally vague, deemed "Not Product Specific" and only mentioning that they take place in the Halo universe. See if you can decipher them with your Master Chief decoder rings!

Is Microsoft Hiring A 'Halo' Team For Peter Jackson This Week? [MTV Multiplayer]

*We all know I'm not a LoTR fan, but I absolutely loved Heavenly Creatures.

Halo film hope flickers [play]

Blomkamp also reveals that the live action Halo shorts that were shown publicly at E3 this year weren't an attempt to jump start production. He tells CO:

There was not even one percent of my mind in doing those short pieces to try and resurrect the film. And I think maybe that's because I'm closer to the film, I know how hard it fell, and I know that doing things like that was not how you're going to get it back on its feet. I never went about making those little pieces like I was trying to resurrect the film.

It all sounds pretty bleak but Blomkamp later told the interviewer "never say never." Maybe there's hope for Master Chief and pals to journey to the big screen at some point after all.

Q&A: Director Neill Blomkamp on Halo Shorts, Film [Creativity Online via NeoGAF]

Heading up the show were Jonty Barnes, head of production at Bungie, and Jay Weinland, "Sound Monkey" (or if you prefer, sound designer), the whole proceedings taped for Gametrailers.com (you may see a few questions from me). There wasn't anything new that most readers here, reservation ticket in hand, don't probably know. Oh, I know how it ends, but you'll just have to wait to find out for yourself.

A few things though. Downloadable content from Bungie? They'll wait for a while, see how the player-generated content created through Forge works out, but expect some official downloads down the line. Easter eggs and stuff to do after you've gone through the storymode once? Play co-op, as it opens all sorts of new interactions with the AI, and then hunt for the skulls — collecting them will open up plenty of new hidden modes. Keep looking for terminals as well, since a separate back story is told that way.

The Forge functionality really is something, and the idea of players taking on the role of a "god," adding/removing stuff from maps on the fly as games are being played — you can even score points when in edit mode, dropping tanks from the sky on unsuspecting players — is going to change the way multi-player is experienced. Add to that the possibility of inventing new sorts of gameplay — the developers were showing off a game of baseball with rockets — and you've got the recipe for some seriously creative fun.

As far as follow-ups? Mum's the word, although they are really happy about the way things are going with the Peter Jackson project, and details on the game will probably be announced early next year.

You can't make games and make movies. It's not our business.

Peter Jackson's Halo movie may be on ice, but that doesn't mean he's not doing Halo stuff. In an interview with game site GameSpy, Microsoft's Shane Kim apparently said the filmmaker is making an interactive, animated series. Apparently, because Microsoft PR is denying it. Anyway, here's what Kim originally said:

Bungie is working directly with Peter Jackson on the Halo interactive series, and Bungie will definitely be involved, and continue to be involved on Halo... Bungie has their plans well mapped out. You have to, when you have a studio like that, and you need to know what you're moving your people on to. So they have the collaboration with Peter Jackson on the animated series.

...he [Shane Kim] was misquoted (or possibly misspoke) during the GameSpy interview, but either way, it was an error.

Peter Jackson [1Up]

Last year, the Peter Jackson produced Halo film was put on ice. First timer Neill Blomkamp was slated to helm, perhaps causing studios getting cold feet. With the Halo 3 hype machine kicking into high gear, Jackson says he expects renewed interested from 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures. But, would Jackson still back Blomkamp?

We wouldn't want to do it with anybody else. It'll be Neill's call.

That's a damn strong endorsement right there, folks. Brian Ashcraft

Blomkamp Still In [Stuff NZ via Joystiq]

Says the mysterious Quartermann:

Word is another Halo game is in the works. No, I'm not talking about Halo Wars (but I hear it might be coming out this year!) or the episodic project famed movie director Peter Jackson is working on. So what is it?

Yeah! What is it? Bungie and pals have the first-person shooter and real time strategy genres covered, so where else can the Spartans take us? I'll admit, I'm stumped, but I've got a hundred Microsoft Points on a DS game. Any guesses? Michael McWhertor

Microsoft is a major Hollywood player. Just listen to the company's Peter Moore tell how studios like Warner Bros., Paramount and Universal have provided them with HD movie trailers. What's the impetus for this marriage? Moore explains:

We're looking for innovative ways in which to interact with our demographic, which is primarily the 16- to 34-year-old male, which tends to be an elusive demographic for Hollywood right now because they're utilizing their TVs to play rather than to watch.

Not only is Microsoft in good with studios, but also big time director Peter Jackson, who will eventually bring Halo to the silver screen and his own "intellectual properties" to the 360. Moore adds:

It's fortunate for us to leverage one of the world's best storytellers, but then to take those storytelling digital skills to bear in a different way.

At last year's E3, Joel Johnson and I tried to weasel our way into Microsoft's uber exclusive pool-side party. A-listers like Ben Affleck and Diddy supposedly put in an appearance. Joel and I did not, unfortunately. Brian Ashcraft

Microsoft and Hollywood [Reuters]

As was previously confirmed, we deeply regret that both Universal and Fox did not choose to move forward with financing the Halo film under the original terms of the agreement. At this time Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, along with their partner, Microsoft, have mutually agreed to postpone making a feature film based on the Halo video game universe until we can fulfill the promise we made to millions of Halo fans throughout the world that we would settle for no less than bringing a first class film to the big screen. We are fully supportive of Director Neill Blomkamp's vision of the film. Neill is a tremendously gifted filmmaker and his preliminary work on Halo is truly awe-inspiring. While it will undoubtedly take a little longer for Halo to reach the big screen, we are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait.

Why can't Gates just spend his allowance on the film, crap he could pay to have the real Halo world created, footing the bill for a bit of fakery would be a drop in the bucket for him. Brian Crecente

Bad News. HALO a No-Go... aka Why are the studios retarded? [Ain't It Cool News]