Showtime has finally answered the longstanding question of what Master Chief looks like under his helmet. The network has cast actor Pablo Schreiber, of The Wire and Orange Is the New Black fame, as the main protagonist of its upcoming Halo television series. Presumably they’ll let him take the helmet off at some point to confirm.
Emmy- and Tony-nominated actor Schreiber will be joined by new face Yerin Ha as sidekick “Quan Ah,” in what’s said to be a new story that will nonetheless be respectful of series canon. It will take place during the Covenant War, and casting notices have suggested that SPARTAN-II creator Catherine Halsey will also have a part to play.
Troubled production finally on the move
It’s been a long and arduous road for Halo as a live-action project. After the success of the franchise’s first two video games, a cinematic entry was announced in 2005. None other than Peter Jackson himself, at the time hot off the Lord of the Rings movies, was attached to the project. It was cancelled in 2007.
A number of web series have since been released to further develop the universe subsequent games in the series were set in. In 2013 Showtime announced its current project. Originally Steven Spielberg was pegged to produce it, but reportedly he’s no longer attached either. However, his company, Amblin Television, still is. Rise of the Planet of the Apes‘ Rupert Wyatt was to be directing the endeavor, with Kyle Killen (Awake) showrunning.
Casting for Master Chief finally started last November, but then Wyatt left the month after, which led us to believe we would not be hearing from this project again for a while. Here we are though, with two actors and a new producer/director in Otto Bathurst (Robin Hood).
With filming starting in Hungary this fall, the now nine-episode series will likely not premiere for another year. It will air on Showtime and Xbox’s Halo Channel.
Published: Apr 18, 2019 11:42 am