Showtime has ordered a 10-episode series based on the Halo video game title

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Gas up your Warthog, charge your energy sword and prepare for battle because Showtime is officially bringing the HALO video game franchise to TV! I know that it feels like forever since we last heard about this project, but check this out. After four years of being trapped in development Hell, the  premium cable network has ordered 10 episodes of HALO for a ive-action scripted drama series. Serving as executive producer, writer, and showrunner for the series will be Kyle Killen of AWAKE and MIND GAMES fame. Joining Killen will be Rupert Wyatt (THE EXORCIST) who will direct several episodes of the series while also acting as an executive producer. Billed as a sci-fi drama, HALO will be produced by Showtime and Microsoft/343 Industries alongside Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television. Scott Pennington and Amblin TV's Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank will also executive produce. Production on the series is expected to kick off in early 2019.

"Halo is our most ambitious series ever, and we expect audiences who have been anticipating it for years to be thoroughly rewarded," said Showtime CEO David Nevins in a statement. "In the history of television, there simply has never been enough great science fiction. Kyle Killen’s scripts are thrilling, expansive and provocative, Rupert Wyatt is a wonderful, world-building director, and their vision of Halo will enthrall fans of the game while also drawing the uninitiated into a world of complex characters that populate this unique universe.”

As a flagship franchise for the Xbox family on consoles and PC platform, HALO has entertained gamers since the launch of Halo: Combat Evolved in November of 2001. As a military science fiction first-person shooter, HALO puts players in the boots of Master Chief, a recurring soldier character who stands at the center of several games, novels, and comics based on the long-running franchise. Though faceless, players embraced the Master Chief character with gusto, leading the series to sell over 77 million copies of the varying titles in its video game library. In the game, Master Chief and other biochemically and cybernetically-enhanced supersoldiers protect humanity against an insidious alien alliance known as The Covenant. While armed with a series of weapons and future-tech vehicles, the supersoldiers run headlong into battle with the hope of saving humanity one alien death at a time.

It's finally happening! How does it feel to know that a HALO TV series is on the way? What's your favorite game in the franchise? Are you down to see romantic tension between supersoldiers? What weapons and vehicles would you like to see featured throughout the series? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

About the Author

Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He's also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You'll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.