After shutting down due to the ongoing health crisis earlier this year, Showtime’s series adaptation of the hit video game franchise Halo has resumed production. The news was announced through the series’ Twitter account with a behind-the-scenes look at Pablo Schreiber with part of Master Chief’s helmet.
Additionally, IGN announced a casting change. Actress Natasha McElhone was originally set to portray both Dr. Catherine Halsey, the lead scientist who created the Spartan II program which turned Master Chief John-117 and other Spartans into super soldiers, as well as her AI creation and Master Chief’s trusted ally Cortana. However, due to scheduling conflicts that have arisen because of the heath crisis, McElhone will still portray Halsey but not Cortana.
Instead, the series has cast Jen Taylor, the original voice actress for Cortana who has voiced her in all the main Halo games. It is not known if Taylor will physically play Cortana or if the AI will be CGI and Taylor will once again provide her voice. As for the Halo video games she will reprise Cortana in Halo Infinite, the next Master Chief adventure which was delayed to fall 2021 earlier this year.
We’re back on the #Halo set and #MakingMasterChief. 📸: @schreiber_pablo pic.twitter.com/dFYKWRrwQR
— Halo on Paramount+ (@HaloTheSeries) November 10, 2020
Kyle Killen (Lone Star) and Steven Kane (The Last Ship) are serving as showrunners on Halo, with Otto Bathurst (Peaky Blinders) directing and Pablo Schreiber (American Gods) taking on the lead role as the series’ iconic protagonist Master Chief.
Halo is set in the 26th century, and revolves around a conflict between humanity and the alien threat known as the Covenant. The series is slated to premiere in early 2021 and stars Pablo Schreiber (American Gods) as Master Chief, Natascha McElhone (Designated Survivor) as Dr. Catherine Halsey, Jen Taylor (Halo) as Cortana, Bokeem Woodbine (Spider-Man: Homecoming) as Soren-066, Danny Sapani (Killing Eve) as Captain Jacob Keyes, Olive Gray (Save Me)as Dr. Miranda Keyes, Shabana Azmi (Neerja) as Admiral Margaret Parangosky, Bentley Kalu (Avengers: Age of Ultron) as Vannak-134, Natasha Culzac (The Witcher) as Riz-028 and Kate Kennedy (Catastrophe) as Kai-125.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
