Last year it was announced that Xbox Studios and Showtime were teaming up to produce a live action Halo television series with famed director Steven Spielberg helping produce the series. That announcement was made in May 2014 and it wasn’t long after that Xbox stated their intention to put the series out in Fall 2015, acting as a primer of sorts for Halo 5: Guardians. Since then, however, there has been virtually no news about the development of the series until today.
IGN reported that it had the opportunity to ask Showtime president David Nevins at the TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour about the Halo series and whether or not Showtime was still committed to it. Nevins stated the project is still very much in development, but details were coming “no time soon”. For now, the Halo series remains very much in limbo.
One of the reasons there hasn’t been any movement is the finer details to be worked out between Xbox and Showtime. Last year when Variety first announced this news, they said “The deal with Showtime has taken a long time to work out because the sides are charting new territory for a show designed to air on Showtime as well as Xbox, with enhanced interactivity built in for the latter platform. Details are still being hammered out but sources say the plan is to have episodes bow on Showtime first, followed by the Xbox window.” The timing of when these exactly Xbox could put these episodes up on Halo Waypoint after Showtime has aired them could be an ongoing issue.
Another factor is Steven Spielberg’s busy schedule. Exactly how much involvement he would have with the series has never been directly stated, but since Spielberg himself announced his involvement, it can be assumed he would have a lot of say in its production. Perhaps he’s waiting for his schedule to clear up once he’s fully completed Bridge of Spies before he gets directly involved in the series. For now, the Halo franchise has produced the live action Halo: Nightfall and Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn series. Fans will just have to placate themselves with those and Halo 5 for the time being.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=8k_v0cVxqEY
Originally published August 12, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
