Anyone knows adapting a video game to film or television is no easy task, and it is especially challenging when it involves bringing an iconic character to life in a new way.
Paramount+ is teaming with 343 Industries to bring the Halo game series to the small screen in an upcoming television adaptation. At the same time fans are curious about the series, the nerves around getting Master Chief right weighs on every one – including Kiki Wolfkill of 343 Industries, who has spoken to IGN about the challenges of bringing Master Chief to a new medium.
“Probably the biggest challenge with adapting the game is, the game is designed to put you in Chief’s armor,” Wolfkill said. “What we’re asking people to do with the show is sort of sit back, and we’re going to present a side of Chief that you just don’t get to play in the game. For me, what gets me through it is focusing on where we need to get to, right? And focusing on what we want to be able to deliver and why. The ‘why’ of it is really important. For the television series, we want to be able to do something new in Halo, and we want people to be able to experience it differently. There’s such a responsibility, and there’s also just the personal, you know, drive of wanting to create something amazing. And you bring all those things together, and there’s sort of no room to panic.”
Halo should be in good hands with writers Kyle Killen and Steven Kane developing the project and Otto Bathurst directing, and it is perhaps reassuring knowing that even the creators of these iconic works face the same fears as the fans.
Halo is set to debut on Paramount+ in 2022, and stars Pablo Schreiber, Natascha McElhone, Charlie Murphy, Jen Taylor, Shabana Azmi, Bokeem Woodbine, Kate Kennedy, Natasha Culzac, Yerin Ha, and Bentley Kalu.
