Operation Chastity

Operation Chastity was a planned fan-made feature film set in the Halo universe, centering on a platoon of Recon Marines of the 267th Marine Regiment. The film was being helmed by Peter Cooper, a British Halo fan and first-time film maker. Operation Chastity was a completely independent work, unaffiliated with 343 Industries, Bungie, or any other official party.

Plot Summary
"The Recon Marines of the 267th Marine Regiment was deployed in Argentina within a UNSC cordon, set up around the wreckage of the CCS-class battlecruiser "Chaste Ascendancy" following its crash-landing on Earth. Operation Chastity is their last mission in a forgotten part of the Human-Covenant War."

- Official plot summary

Operation CHASTITY would take place during February 2553, four months after the Battle of Earth and one month before the official end of the war. The 267th Marine Regiment, being deployed from the frigate UNSC Hope Springs Eternal, are sent down in SOEIV pods to Argentina at the remains of a Covenant CCS-class battlecruiser Chaste Ascendancy to mop the rest of the Covenant stragglers. Almost all the troopers there, led by Lieutenant Ashton, are exhausted from the war and expect to finish this mission then go home. However, Ashton discovers an ONI agent and a Spartan, Maria-062, on a top-secret mission dubbed Operation Chastity, which puts him in a dilemma of warning his men of the danger or completing the mission ASAP and getting back home.

Story elements so far unknown as to their connection to the plot include a laptop with vital information, a last stand at an abandoned munitions factory, and an enormous Banshee battle against Pelicans struggling to escape with their troopers onboard.

Production
"This whole thing started when I got back from the United States. I'm busy writing a film treatment for someone when the idea crops up in my head - "How cool would it be to build a Warthog from Halo?" I start talking to engineers who agree to help make plans based on Land Rovers, and I share my project with a few people, who get a bit excitable. They then ask the question - "What are you going to use it for?" "Don't know. Just thought it would be really cool." "Why don't you make a movie with it or something?""

- Pete Cooper

Operation Chastity was first announced by Peter Cooper on October 31, 2008. The announcement focussed on the pre-production creation of a working M12 Warthog to be featured in the film. The Warthog, subsequently completed, was made from an 1983 Land Rover Defender 110. Unlike all other depictions of the Warthog, it was "right-drive" instead of "left-drive", since the vehicle's steering wheel could not be moved to the opposite side.

In subsequent announcements, Cooper listed the film's initial budget as "between £25,000 and £30,000 pending further cash injection". The film was described as "being crewed by passionate fans and film makers from all around the world, reaching from the production’s home of Britain as far as the USA and Singapore".

Over the next several years, information on the project was released in the form of press releases, concept art and production stills on the film's website, Facebook page, and Youtube channel. UNSC Marines and Spartans would have been featured. VFX work was reportedly scheduled for depiction of plasma fire, Banshees and Scorpions. No explanation was ever given for what would have been used to depict Covenant infantry, though a tweet suggested they would have been modeled.

On April 11, 2011 a behind-the-scenes video of the production was posted on the Machinima Youtube channel. The video is footage of a shoot at a single location, featuring several Marines and the functioning, turret-less Warthog.

Apparent Cancellation
After much build-up, news about the project gradually petered out. The last known Twitter post on the film's feed was posted in February 2012. The film's website, Facebook page and Twitter feed were eventually taken down. On February 19, 2013 Peter Cooper tweeted an ad offering to sell much-touted Warthog for £12,500 or $20,000.

The film is generally accepted as cancelled, though no official cancellation was ever announced, nor has any explanation been offered for what scuttled the project. Cooper referred to the project as having "collapsed" in 2012, and consultant Stephen Loftus suggested that the production of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, an official 343 Industries sanctioned film, may have cut off the project.