The live-action adaptation of the popular Halo video games has had a tumultuous journey. That journey, however, appears to be almost over—Paramount+ released a teaser today that confirms the show will finally make its way to the streaming platform in 2022.
The teaser is a tease in every sense of the word. Looking for shots from the actual show? Sorry! We don’t get any of that here. What we do get, however, is a brief introduction to Pablo Schreiber (American Gods and Orange Is The New Black) as the live-action version of the Spartan sci-fi soldier, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117.
When I say brief introduction, I mean very brief. We don’t see Schreiber’s face in the twenty-seven-second clip. The biggest glimpse we see, in fact, is his character’s scarred back. If that scarred back wasn’t enough for you, we also get quick shots of his armor, his “117” call sign, and the back of his head as he puts on his helmet. The end of the clip has the front of his helmet-covered face while a voiceover says, “Hello, Master Chief.”
Hello indeed! Halo fans have been waiting for a live-action version of the game for almost a decade. Way back in 2013, Steven Speilberg himself tried to get an adaptation made for Showtime. That project had fits and starts, but seemed to be in the works again as of 2018 with director Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) attached along with showrunner Kyle Killen.
Before things could move forward, however, Wyatt left the project and was replaced by His Dark Materials director Otto Bathurst. Killen gained a co-showrunner, Steven Kane, but things were delayed even more because of the pandemic. Earlier this year, news broke that Killen and Kane have both left the show (Kane stayed through production, at least), and ViacomCBS decided to move the series from Showtime to its streaming platform, Paramount+.
And that brings us to today’s teaser. After nine years and multiple trials and tribulations, the series is set to premiere on Paramount+ some time in 2022. In addition to Schreiber, the live-action Halo stars Natascha McElhone, Jen Taylor, Bokeem Woodbine, Shabana Azmi, Natasha Culzac, Olive Gray, Yerin Ha, Bentley Kalu, Kate Kennedy, Charlie Murphy, and Danny Sapani.
