Showtime is officially moving forward with that much-anticipated live-action adaption of Microsoft’s massively popular video game franchise Halo. The network announced Thursday that it has ordered 10 hour-long episodes of the scripted drama, and that production will start in early 2019.
The series will be produced by Showtime in association with Microsoft’s 343 Industries, which produces the video game, and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television. Though we’ve always known the show was in production, the other big news today is that Halo fans should know the series will be great hands. Awake‘s Kyle Killen will serve as showrunner, writer and executive producer and Rise of the Planet of the Apes‘ Rupert Wyatt will direct the series in addition to executive-producing.
According to the official description, the series will follow the story from the video games and center around the epic 26th-century battle between mankind and the alien threat known as the Covenant. It will “weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.”
The project was first announced in 2013 and our last update came from Gary Levine, president of programming at Showtime, at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour earlier this year. He previously told TV Guide that the series “is absolutely still in development, still moving forward and I’m encouraged by what we’ve seen so far.” He added that “it will definitely satisfy the fans of Halo and I think also satisfy the drama audiences of Showtime.”
The video game franchise made its debut in November 2001 with Halo: Combat Evolved and the hit franchise has sold more than 65 million copies so far. It is considered one of the best first-person shooters on the market. Previous adaptions include the web series Halo: Forward Unto Dawn in 2012 as well as the digital feature Halo: Nightfall in 2014 starring Luke Cage‘s Mike Colter.
Halo
Source : TVGuide
