Halo TV series still moving forward at Paramount+, but loses showrunners amid long road to screen

After almost a decade of promises for a live-action Halo TV show, Paramount+’s iteration of the video game adaptation is moving forward. However, the two showrunners — Steven Kane and Kyle Killen — will apparently not be.

According to Variety, Killen had already left Halo before production even started last year. The rigorous shooting schedule in Budapest was the reported reason for his departure. Kane has stayed on and become lead showrunner, and production is currently ongoing. While Kane will stay through post-production, he will not return to the show if it gets picked up for a second season, as he wants to return to the U.S. for personal reasons.

The series is based on the extremely popular Xbox video game that takes place during a major 26th-century conflict, where humans are fighting aliens known as the Covenant. The path for a live-action TV version of Halo has been a rocky one. The first news about a potential adaptation came in 2013, when Microsoft announced it was teaming up with Stephen Spielberg to develop a show.

The project eventually moved to Showtime in late 2019, with Kane and Killen attached. When COVID happened, production was delayed. Then parent company CBSViacom moved the series from Showtime to Paramount+ in February of this year.

Given the series is still in production, the good news is that the odds are in our favor that we’ll finally (finally!) see a live-action Halo on screen. The series stars Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, Natascha McElhone as Dr. Catherine Halsey, and Jen Taylor as Cortana.

No news yet on when the nine-episode first season of Halo will make it to Paramount+.