It’s hard to believe that it has been eight years since Neill Blomkamp and Peter Jackson’s Halo feature film fell apart in the middle of pre-production, soon to become just another cautionary tale in Hollywood. Since then, Microsoft has funded some smaller Halo projects including a handful of short films, a web series and a live-action TV series with the help of Steven Spielberg, but they still have not taken another stab at a movie. Some Halo fans are holding out hope that one day they will see Master Chief on the big screen, but for the moment, that remains a pipe dream. However, this week we are hearing that there is another top secret Halo project in the works, and while it won’t be a theatrical release, it does happen to involve Sir Ridley Scott and long-time Spielberg assistant director Sergio Mimica-Gezzan. Hit the jump to find out what we know so far.

According to The Wrap, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan is set to direct a new live-action Halo digital feature project for 343 Industries, Xbox Entertainment Studios and Scott Free Productions. Prison Break creator Paul Scheuring is writing the script while Ridley Scott and Scott Free TV president David Zucker will executive produce. The plot will not revolve around the Master Chief but will instead focus on another surgically-enhanced super soldier.

While the term “digital feature” implies a feature-length movie, this is still expected to be released in chapters in a format similar to the Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn Machinima series. This kind of makes sense, considering that most of the people involved have TV expertise (Sergio Mimica-Gezzan has also directed episodes of such sci-fi shows as Battlestar Galactica, Heroes and Falling Skies). Reports indicate that this is a different project from their other live-action Halo series currently in development and it is expected to be released by the end of the year. More info will probably be forthcoming at E3. Are you interested in yet another Halo digital series? Is Microsoft in danger of watering down the property or are there still plenty of stories left to tell in this universe?