‘Halo’s Run on Paramount+ Comes To an End

Based on the popular video game franchise responsible for elevating Microsoft’s standing in the console sphere, the military sci-fi TV series Halo‘s run has come to a relatively premature end.

The live-action show has been canceled at Paramount+, with a report claiming that the streamer is actively looking to transfer the series to another outlet. Here’s what the streaming service had to say in a statement about the cancellation:

“We are extremely proud of this ambitious series and would like to thank our partners at Xbox, 343 Industries and Amblin Television, along with showrunner and executive producer David Wiener, his fellow executive producers, the entire cast led by Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief and the amazing crew for all their outstanding work. We wish everyone the best going forward.”

Developed by Kyle Killen and Steven Kane, the show premiered in March 2022, with its nine-episode first season concluding in May 2022. Season 2 landed on Paramount+ in February 2024 and aired until March, with critics noting it to be an improvement over the underwhelming debut season. Overall, the show was praised for its action sequences and visual effects, but was widely panned by fans of the video game for deviation from the source material.

Halo stars Canadian-American actor Pablo Schreiber as the iconic game character Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, the genetically engineered Spartan supersoldier who serves as the leader of the Silver Team. Indian veteran actress Shabana Azmi co-stars as Admiral Margaret Parangosky, commander-in-chief of ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence). The supporting cast includes Olive Gray, Yerin Ha, Kate Kennedy, Charlie Murphy, Jen Taylor, Natasha McElhone, and Danny Sapani. Taylor carries over the voice role of Cortana from the video game series.

The show’s plot revolves around the 26th-century war waged by the Covenant, a military partnership between multiple alien species whose sole objective is to eliminate the existence of humans from the universe. Defending humanity from this cynical extra-terrestrial alliance is the United Nations Space Command, the military wing of the Unified Earth Government.

Halo was in development hell for several years before Showtime commissioned a ten-episode series order in June of 2018. However, the project couldn’t come to fruition, and it eventually moved to Paramount+ in February of 2021. The series was developed keeping multiple seasons in mind, and fans of the franchise will certainly keep a close eye on where the show moves next.