Paramount + hangs on Showtime’s long-awaited ‘Halo’ TV series



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First announced in 2013, the highly anticipated Halo The TV series, based on the Xbox mega-gaming franchise, is finally slated to air in the first quarter of 2022. But don’t sign up for a Showtime subscription just yet. While the show was originally scheduled to air on the premium subscription channel, executives at ViacomCBS announced on Wednesday that it would instead be hosted on the company’s new Paramount + streaming service.

The upcoming television series is produced by Showtime in conjunction with Microsoft’s 343 Industries subsidiary and Amblin Entertainment. Steven Spielberg, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey will serve as executive producers on Amblin’s behalf alongside Steven Kane (he produced Starship Troopers) and Kyle Killen (Awake), as well as five other EPs covering One Big Picture, Chapter 11 and 343 Industries. Directed by Otto Bathurst and starring Pablo Schreiber of American gods fame as well as Natascha McElhone, who was awesome Ronin, Avengers: Age of UltronBentley Kalu, The witcherby Natasha Culzac and DisasterKate Kennedy, the series was billed as “Showtime’s most ambitious series ever.”

Halo The TV show was originally scheduled to air in the first quarter of 2021, but the COVID-19 outbreak derailed its filming schedule, with only 60% of the first season being filmed. In addition to the one-year delay, the first season saw its episode count shortened by one, so we’ll only have 9 eps to start.

“We were looking for signature shows beyond Star Trek franchise on CBS All Access and was thinking about what could be a defining series for Paramount +, ”said David Nevins, Creative Director and President of CBS and CEO of Showtime Networks Deadline. However, after seeing the initial footage – combined with the popularity of the original Showtime series Your Honor with Bryan Cranston – channel executives decided to move Halo on Paramount +. “Halo still fit the bill, but seeing it, we felt it would work, ”Nevins said. Despite the platform migration, Showtime will continue to produce the series.

“It offers the visceral excitement of playing the game, as well as a much deeper emotional experience around the Spartans, human beings who have changed their humanity chemically and genetically,” he continued. “The story is about reclaiming what makes them human, so it’s a very powerful story.”

Paramount + will be available as a broadcast service, rather than Pluto’s ad-supported free streaming or Showtime’s premium paid offerings. “We all thought Halo was a big, paid-for show,” Nevins said, so you’ll probably have to spend real money to watch it rather than suffer the occasional commercial cut.

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