Showtime is making a TV series based on the 'Halo' video games, and its CEO called it the network's 'most ambitious show ever'
- Showtime picked up a series based on the popular "Halo" video games after years of the concept being in development.
- Its CEO, David Nenins, says it is Showtime's "most ambitious series ever."
- Rupert Wyatt, who directed "The Rise of the Planet of the Apes," will direct multiple episodes.
- It's set to begin production early next year.
After years in development limbo, Showtime has finally made a series order for a television show based on the popular video game "Halo." And Showtime CEO David Nevins says it's the network's "most ambitious series ever."
On Thursday, Showtime announced that it had ordered a 10-episode first season of the show, with Kyle Killen as its showrunner and executive producer. Killen created the short-lived 2012 NBC drama, "Awake," which starred Jason Isaacs. Rupert Wyatt ("The Rise of the Planet of the Apes") is set to direct multiple episodes, along with serving as an executive producer. The series, set in the future, will follow the conflict between the human race and an alien threat called the Covenant.
"Halo" is Microsoft's biggest video game franchise and was first released in 2001. Microsoft announced a new game, "Halo Infinite," two weeks ago at E3. In the years since "Halo" gained popularity, there have been a few false starts on "Halo" films, including projects with Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg attached. Spielberg's production company, Amblin Television, will produce the series along with Showtime and Microsoft/343 Industries.
The Hollywood Reporter said production will start in early 2019.
"'Halo' is our most ambitious series ever, and we expect audiences who have been anticipating it for years to be thoroughly rewarded," Nevins said. "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."