Chances are, if you’re a longtime fan of Halo, you’ve been interested to see how the upcoming TV series will fare. That being said, when it comes to the highly-anticipated small screen adaptation, one’s level of devotion is not put to the test so much as one’s amount of patience.
It’s been over six years since 343 Industries announced it would be producing a live-action series alongside Steven Spielberg. The show has been through development hell since then – at one point, District 9Â director Neill Blomkamp was attached to the project. Then, last year, Kyle Killen (Lone Star, Awake, Mind Games) was hired as showrunner and executive producer, with Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) to direct and produce. A few unceremonious months later, Wyatt stepped down from the series due to scheduling conflicts.
To say that the show has hit some bumps along the way would be an understatement, though it looks like 343 Industries has slowly started to pull the project together. As reported by GameRant, studio head Kiki Wolfkill, who’s also in charge of Halo‘s transmedia efforts, has shed some light on the series’ direction, explaining it’ll include the same complex characters and political intrigue that fans have seen in Game of Thrones.Â
She described the show as a “character-driven drama against extraordinary Halo worldbuilding” and “a big budget, high-fidelity story.” It seems the creative team is trying to figure out exactly which aspects of the franchise would translate well, given that so many video game adaptations have failed before.
“WE TALK ABOUT GAME OF THRONES A LOT IN TERMS OF SCOPE, SCALE, AND COMPLEXITY OF RELATIONSHIPS BECAUSE A LOT OF THE BACKGROUND OF HALO IS SORT OF POLITICAL DRAMA […] AND IT’S SOMETHING THAT YOU TOUCH ON REALLY LIGHTLY IN THE GAMES AND SEE MORE DEEPLY IN SOME OF THE OTHER MEDIUMS. SO IN SOMETHING LIKE A GAME OF THRONES, SOME OF THAT COMPLEXITY IS INTERESTING.”
Aside from Game of Thrones, Wolfkill explained the team’s also taking inspiration from Westworld, The Expanse, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and Altered Carbon. All in all, any concrete details surrounding the Halo TV show are still a mystery, though we imagine more information will come to light next week at E3.
