(the vehicle, as seen in the Halo 3 computer game)

The story of Operation Chastity follows a group of United Nations Space Command Marines fighting the survivors of a crashed alien Covenant battleship, and their final battle in the conflict – a secret mission behind enemy lines which none of them are sure they will return from. The film is a self-funded effort, with an estimated budget of around £30,000, and shooting planned to commence in Winter 2009 in the United Kingdom. The film project is in no way affiliated with Bungie Studios, Microsoft Game Studios or WETA studios, and is an independent work.

The vehicle that is going to be used for the project is an A-reg 1984 Land Rover Defender 110, rescued from the GumTree 4×4 yard before its eventual scrapping due to MoT failure. Being rebuilt by Props Studios, the vehicle will be fitted with a whole new body, chunky off road tyres, lifted suspension and a whole host of other upgrades to make it into the futuristic combat vehicle. This is certainly not going to be your average Land Rover!

In the games, the Warthog LRV was the vehicle of choice for Master Chief John-117, the superhuman Spartan raised from a boy to become humanity’s greatest soldier as he went across the universe and eventually home to Earth fighting the Covenant. The vehicle being made for Operation Chastity, however, will be used by the Marines of the 267th Division as they fight the alien invaders on human soil.

And it is also hoped that a second vehicle, in the troop carrier format, will also be able to be added to the Marines armoury in time for shooting to commence!

(the M831 troop carrier, a variant of the M12 LRV, as seen in the Halo 3 computer game)

More updates will be released as and when they come.

Peter Cooper

Writer/Director/Producer, Operation Chastity