Portal and Half-Life movies are still a go, have writers, J.J. Abrams says

The Half-Life and Portal movies that J.J. Abrams said he was working on three years ago are still in development, and have writers assigned to them, the Star Wars: Episode VII director told IGN.

"Nothing that would be an exciting update," he added, but at least the project is still alive and kicking.

Abrams first revealed his collaboration with Valve on the adaptations back at DICE 2013, during a panel discussion with Valve boss Gabe Newell. At the time he said the project was in such an early state that he couldn't say anything about it. Newell, at the panel, said he and Abrams had had conversations for years about storytelling in film and video games, and that's when the two decided to get together on two of Valve's best known properties.

"We're not looking to make a movie in the gaming world," he said then. "We're not looking to impose what we do on that."

Abrams and Valve had previously collaborated on an interactive trailer for Abrams' Super 8 in 2011, which ended up inside Portal 2.

Abrams was discussing the Portal and Half-Life projects in a larger interview about 10 Cloverfield Lane, which premiered on Friday. For more on the sci-fi thriller, which Abrams produced, see our review.