Showtime’s moving forward on a new live-action series based on the Halo video game series. The network also confirmed the upcoming scripted drama is expected to begin production early next year.
Halo has Kyle Killen (Awake, Lone Star) attached as the season one showrunner. He’s also writing the 10 episode first season and will executive produce with Scott Pennington, Justin Falvey, and Darryl Frank. Rupert Wyatt, director of The Escapist and Rise of the Planet of the Apes, will direct some of season one’s episodes and will also serve as an executive producer.
The Halo series is an Amblin Television and Microsoft/343 Industries production.
“Halo is our most ambitious series ever, and we expect audiences who have been anticipating it for years to be thoroughly rewarded,” said David Nevins, President and CEO, Showtime Networks Inc. “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 we think about what it means to bring videogame franchises to movie or TV – the biggest challenge can often be finding the right balance between moments fans have already experienced and moments that have yet to be experienced through a different medium, perspective, or creative lens,” stated Kiki Wolfkill, Head of Transmedia, 343 Industries. “We are excited to navigate these creative waters to bring you something that is both respectful of what you already know and love, but also new and surprising and enthralling.”
More on Halo, Courtesy of Showtime: “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.”
