Master Chief's long-teased telly debut took another small step towards finally being realised this week, as ViacomCBS announce plans to bring the Halo TV show to its Paramount+ streaming service in 2021.
That comes by way of a report by Deadline, which reveals that the network announced it had moved the Halo series from Showtime to Paramount+ during this week's ViacomCBS Streaming Event. According to a CBS Chief Creative Officer David Nevins, early footage convinced the network to reposition the space opera as a flagship title for the new platform.
“We were on the hunt for signature shows beyond the Star Trek franchise on CBS All Access and were thinking, what could be a defining series for Paramount+," said Nevins. "Halo always fit the bill, but seeing it, we felt it would work."
Halo has been gunning for a TV adaptation for a long time, with Steven Spielberg announcing he'd be working on a series all the way back in 2013. Halo's live-action struggles go back even further, however, to an incredibly promising (if ultimately abandoned) short by District 9 director Neil Blomkamp. Production on CBS' show began in 2019, filming about 55-60% of its first season before Covid-19 brought it to a standstill last March.
Many of the folks working on the show have been involved in the Halo project since 2013, and moving to a new channel won't change much of the show's development. Showtime will still be leading production the series, with assistance from Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Halo caretakers 343 Industries. The show stars Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief, with Jen Taylor reprising her role as Cortana.
