Network teams with Kyle Killen, Rupert Wyatt, Spielberg’s Amblin TV and Microsoft/343 Industries on 10-episode order.
Showtime today announced they’ve greenlit 10 one-hour episodes of Halo (working title), to begin production in early 2019, based on the hugely popular Halo video game franchise. The series, to be produced by the cable network in association with Amblin TV and Microsoft/343 Industries, will be set 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. Kyle Killen (Awake) has been tapped as executive producer, writer and showrunner, with Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) set to direct multiple episodes and serve as executive producer.
According to Showtime president and CEO David Nevins, “Halo is our most ambitious series ever, and we expect audiences who have been anticipating it for years to be thoroughly rewarded. 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.”
“Showtime brings its powerful legacy of experience in building stories for premium cable and together with Amblin Television and legendary storyteller Steven Spielberg, have been gracious partners in helping put together the right creative team to bring Halo to television,” said Kiki Wolfkill, 343 Industries head of transmedia, in a post on the Halo Waypoint website. “We are thrilled to have experienced showrunner Kyle Killen and blockbuster director Rupert Wyatt on board, both of whom bring their own flavor of vision, intelligence, and voice to Halo. We couldn't have asked for a stronger or more passionate team to collaborate with.”
The project has been in talks at Showtime since it moved to the cable network after XBox Entertainment Studios shut down in 2014. Scott Pennington is also set as executive producer, along with Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank for Amblin TV. The series will be distributed globally by CBS Studios International.
Source: Showtime
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
