Halo, the popular video game franchise that turned 20 years old this year, is becoming a TV series, and now fans have their first official look at the show. During Xbox’s 20th anniversary celebration, the first Halo teaser trailer was released, which included confirming that the series is coming to Paramount Plus in 2022.
There have been multiple games of Halo that have seen the world expand, but the Paramount Plus original series of Halo will be based on the first game released in 2001. The story takes place in the 26th century amid an epic conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant. Paramount Plus described the series as a combination of deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.
Of course the star of Halo is Master Chief, who in the TV series will be played by Pablo Schreiber (American Gods). There is also Natascha McElhone (Californication) as Dr. Halsey and Jen Taylor, reprising her role of Cortana from the original video games. Other cast members include Bookem Woodbine (Fargo), Shabana Azmi (Fire), Natasha Culzac (The Witcher), Olive Gray (Half Moon Investigations), Yerin Ha (Reef Break), Bentley Kalu (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Kate Kennedy (Catastrophe), Charlie Murphy (Peaky Blinders) and Danny Sapani (Penny Dreadful).
The teaser trailer for Halo is short, but it’s sure to get die-hard fans of the game amped up as it sees Master Chief suit up.
While no specific release window was announced, whenever Halo premieres on Paramount Plus in 2022, it will be available to all subscribers in the U.S. and whatever international markets that the streaming service is in, as it prepares for its first rollout abroad.
Halo will join a lineup of Paramount Plus original series that include Mayor of Kingstown, Star Trek: Discovery, iCarly and the upcoming 1883. Paramount Plus, which also includes a library of classic Paramount movies and TV shows as well as live sports and news, is available to sign up for at either $4.99 per month (ad-supported) or $9.99 per month (ad-free).
In addition to trying to boost Paramount Plus’ original output, Halo will try and break the apparent curse that so many video game adaptations have had in the past, particularly in movies. Famous flops have included Super Mario Bros., Prince of Persia, Mortal Kombat (the recent one; personally love the campy ‘90s film) and Assassin’s Creed. There are a handful of other films and TV shows that will also try and buck the trend, including Uncharted and the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us. The most successful example so far is probably The Witcher.
