HALO: Showtime Orders Video game-to-TV Series Adaptation

Showtime Orders Halo TV Series

The long rumored Halo TV series has finally been given a home and the green-light. Showtime has revealed that they have ordered a live-action, ten-episode season based on the Xbox video game franchise. Each episode will be an hour long.

Director Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Exorcist TV series pilot episode) will direct multiple episodes. Wyatt will also executive produce the series with Kyle Killen, Scott Pennington, Justin Falvey, and Darryl Frank.

Along with his executive producing duties, Killen is serving as Halo‘s showrunner and writer.

I hope all those involved in the new Halo TV series have taken a look at the excellent Halo web series to see how a Halo story can be properly brought to life.

Showtime had this to say about what viewers  can expect from the Halo TV series:

In its adaptation for SHOWTIME, HALO will take place in the universe that first came to be in 2001, dramatizing an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant. HALO will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.

Production on Showtime’s Halo TV series will begin in 2019.

Showtime Orders Halo TV Series Press Release

LOS ANGELES – June 28, 2018 – Halo, the award-winning and record-shattering series of video games, is bringing its universe to SHOWTIME. The network has ordered a 10-episode season of the live-action, scripted drama HALO (working title), based on the hallowed Xbox® franchise, with Kyle Killen (Awake) serving as executive producer, writer and showrunner. Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) will direct multiple episodes and also executive produce the hour-long series. Produced by SHOWTIME in association with Microsoft/343 Industries, along with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television, HALO will begin production in early 2019. The announcement was made today by David Nevins, President and CEO, Showtime Networks Inc.

Halo reinvented how people think about video games and has grown into a global entertainment phenomenon, having sold more than 77 million copies worldwide and grossing more than $5 billion in sales. In its adaptation for SHOWTIME, HALO will take place in the universe that first came to be in 2001, dramatizing an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant. HALO will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.

“HALO is our most ambitious series ever, and we expect audiences who have been anticipating it for years to be thoroughly rewarded,” said Nevins. “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.”

In addition to Awake, Killen created and served as showrunner of the TV series Lone Star and Mind Games, and also wrote the feature film The Beaver (directed by Jodie Foster). In addition to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Wyatt’s film and television credits include the upcoming sci-fi feature Captive State, as well as The Exorcist, The Gambler, Turn: Washington Spies and his debut feature film The Escapist, which was nominated for a British Independent Film Award.

HALO will be executive produced by Killen, Wyatt and Scott Pennington, along with Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank for Amblin Television. The series will be distributed globally by CBS Studios International.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, and also offers SHOWTIME ON DEMAND®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND and FLIX ON DEMAND®, and the network’s authentication service SHOWTIME ANYTIME®. Showtime Digital Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SNI, operates the stand-alone streaming service SHOWTIME®. SHOWTIME is currently available to subscribers via cable, DBS and telco providers, and as a stand-alone streaming service through Apple®, Roku®, Amazon, Google, Xbox One, Samsung and LG Smart TVs. Consumers can also subscribe to SHOWTIME via Hulu, YouTube TV, Sling TV, DirecTV Now, Sony PlayStation™ Vue, Amazon Channels and FuboTV. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks™, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel™, and offers Smithsonian Earth™ through SN Digital LLC. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV. For more information, go to www.SHO.com.

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