It seems that the Halo TV show is very much alive and well, and now we got some new updates on the Showtime series on the heels of recent casting announcements. During a recent TCA (via Slash Film), Showtime President of Entertainment Gary Levine revealed that things are going smoothly under the direction of Otto Bathurst, who took over the helming of the series after Rupert Wyatt left the project.
“We have continued our forward motion and it gets more and more exciting,” Levine said. “Obviously changing a director will affect the project a little bit, but Otto Bathurst is a marvelous director, unbelievably passionate about the material. He’s been leading our team in Budapest brilliantly. We’re really excited about the way the series is prepping, that we actually have a production date ahead because clearly this is a big, big ambitious production. We love where the scripts are. Our challenge on this series was to take a video game and to make it into a character drama that belongs on Showtime. I’m happy to say on paper we’ve accomplished that and now we’re looking forward to accomplishing that on the screen.”
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Fans of the Halo video game saga can breathe a sigh of relief. Levine announced also that they are “not going to violate any of the things in the canon,” and that the Showtime series will maintain a decent share of violence, despite going with a PG-13.
“We want to be able to satisfy the gamers, but this is a human portrait, so violence is going to have consequence,” Levine said to Slash Film. “It will sort of belong in our PG-13, almost R universe of shows. I’m not sure what age you’re talking about, but again, hopefully we’ll satisfy the gamers and satisfy the Showtime drama watchers.”
The Showtime executive even hinted that Master Chief could take off his helmet in order to show leading actor Pablo Schreiber’s face somewhere down the road.
“Wait and see,” Levine added. “What I love about Pablo is he has the physicality to be a spartan, to be Master Chief, but he is A), a great dramatic actor and B), he’s got such a twinkle in his eye. He’s so good with wit and comedy. We want Master Chief to have that range and Pablo brings the range.”
Halo will premiere in the first quarter of 2021. What do you expect from the Showtime’s Halo series? Let us know your thoughts about it in the comments section below.
