Rumour has it that Steven Spielberg (he made E.T., Jaws and Indiana Jones - that guy) is in negotiations to produce the beleaguered Halo movie.

This comes by way of movie site IESB, which claims to have confirmed the story with studio execs and sources inside the CAA, Spielberg's talent agency.

The site reports, "Spielberg is blown away by writer Stuart Beattie's take on the game in his script entitled HALO THE FALL OF REACH. This coupled with the fact that his Dreamworks umbrella is looking for a big tent pole to help launch their newly independant studio with distribution over at Walt Disney Pictures after losing Transformers to Paramount in the separation, it's the perfect combination."

The script is supposedly based on the Halo prequel novel of the same name. Details of such a script emerged last year on April Fools Day. April Fools Day, of course, is April Fools Day. Even if that story is not a fabrication, that was over a year ago and the script could have changed. If you want to look anyway, details are here.

IESB further points to Spielberg's gaming credentials, nodding to Shia LeBeouf having apparently helped him out in BioShock. Spielberg also has projects such as Boom Blox either out or in the piepline with EA.

Spielberg, you might well remember, was on stage for the unveiling of Natal back at E3. He's mates with Microsoft, the owner of Halo.

Prospects for the Halo movie started looking pretty grim not too long ago, with both Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp becoming disassociated with it. We don't need to tell you that Spielberg's attachment would be a huge boon for the project.

Of course, there's every chance this will prove to be utter fluff.