It’s been a big week for Halo. Earlier this week saw the launch of the massively popular game franchise’s latest instalment, Halo Infinite – check out the five-star Empire review here – and now, after decades of development hell, we finally have our first look at the sci-fi shooter’s long-awaited leap to live-action. For years and years, there have been efforts to bring Halo to the screen in film and TV form – but now it’s finally happening in a series that was initially set for Showtime, and is now coming to the Paramount+ streaming service, with Peaky Blinders and His Dark Materials alumnus Otto Bathurst directing the first two episodes, and producing alongside a certain Steven Spielberg. Check out the first trailer here:
If video game adaptations are still proving tricky territory in many ways (so close yet so far, Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City) Halo has always seemed ripe for a non-playable treatment. This initial teaser hints at a show on a suitably epic scale, with massive sets, some familiar vehicles from the games, those iconic Spartan outfits, and a hero shot of Master Chief himself – here to be played by Pablo Schreiber. We also get some glimpses of Natascha McElhone as Dr. Catherine Halsey, Bokeem Woodbine as Soren-066, and Jen Taylor as Cortana. The series has been developed and written by Kyle Killen and Steven Kane – though Killen left the series, and Kane has stated he won’t return if a second season is greenlit. Hopefully that’s not a bad omen.
The series is due to hit Paramount+ in 2022 – and with that service set to expand beyond the States in the not-too-distant future (see the whole recent Star Trek: Discovery kerfuffle), UK audiences will presumably be able to watch it there when the show is finally ready to drop.