Tag: Showtime

Posted on in Television News

‘Halo’ Showrunner Steven Kane Exiting Paramount+ Series Once Season 1 Is Complete

One of the more interesting video game adaptations is a new live-action series based on Microsoft’s Halo franchise from Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television, the project having multiple production shake-ups from losing director M.J. Bassett and even one of it’s showrunners Kyle Killen.

Well, even before it has aired on Paramount+ after switching from Showtime, the sci-fi series has lost a second showrunner. Variety reports that Steven Kane (The Last Ship) is exiting once Season 1 has been completed, star Pablo Schreiber (plays Master Chief) had teased on Instagram that filming in Budapest, Hungary, was wrapping-up and has since been travelling with family.

Halo’s cast also consists of Bookem Woodbine, Charlie Murphy, Olive Gray, Kate Kennedy, Yerin Ha, Jen Taylor, Shabana Azmi, Bentley Kalu, Natasha Culzac, and Danny Spani.

Otto Bathurst, Jonathan Liebesman, Roel Reine, and Jessica Lowery are directing various episodes.

Amblin could certainly find a new showrunner to handle Season 2, but there hasn’t even been a sign that Halo is even going to get a second season. The show I imagine is extremely pricey as it filmed in Budapest where other high-profile sci-fi projects have shot such as Blade Runner 2049, Terminator: Dark Fate, and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune remake. It’ll be interesting to see how audiences react to the series when it debuts on Paramount+ in 2022 and if it becomes their flagship series at Paramount+ or they simply finish with a single season.

In the meantime, it was announced that Amblin would partnering with Netflix on a wave of new feature films and The Ronin revealed that Halo director Otto Bathurst is attached to helm/produce an Aurthian show Warlord Chronicles for Epix based on the Bernard Cornwell novels. This development came after his period gangster series Peaky Blinders has ended it’s run. So, it might be difficult to coax Bathurst to return as well.

It’s been an abnormally long production for everyone involved with Halo due to the pandemic that started back in the fall of 2019 and only recently wrapped, which likely has exhausted a lot of people involved with Halo. It’s crew includes production designer Sophie Becher (Mars) alongside cinematographer Karl Walter Lindenlaub (Stargate, Independence Day, Black Book, Ninja Assassin) handling the bulk of the show’s episodes. There is also the expectation the action will be great after hiring stunt coordinator Tom Struthers, who has a laundry list of credits such as The Dark Knight, Dunkirk, Dune, Inception, and The Dark Knight Rises.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Television News

Naomie Harris Nabs Lead Role Opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor In Showtime’s Sci-Fi Series ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’

A series reboot of the David Bowie sci-fi film The Man Who Fell To Earth finally landed at Showtime after moving from Paramount+ and there is news of another high-profile casting addition. According to Deadline, Oscar-nominee Naomie Harris (Moonlight) is taking the role of Justin Falls opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor, a brilliant engineer and scientist.

Based on the Walter Tevis novel of the same name and the iconic film that starred David Bowie, The Man Who Fell to Earth will follow a new alien character (Ejiofor) who arrives on Earth at a turning point in human evolution and must confront his own past to determine our future.

Harris isn’t a stranger to genre projects playing Moneypenny in three Daniel Craig era Bond movies and Callisto in Disney’s Pirates of The Caribbean franchise.

Alex Kurtzman is co-writing/co-showrunning and will also direct multiple episodes. 

THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH – Thomas Jerome Newton (David Bowie) is an alien who has come to Earth in search of water to save his home planet. Aided by lawyer Oliver Farnsworth (Buck Henry), Thomas uses his knowledge of advanced technology to create profitable inventions. While developing a method to transport water, Thomas meets Mary-Lou (Candy Clark), a quiet hotel clerk, and begins to fall in love with her. Just as he is ready to leave Earth, Thomas is intercepted by the U.S. government, and his entire plan is threatened.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Television News

The Live-Action ‘Halo’ Series Moves From Showtime To Paramount+

Deadline has revealed that the Halo series has been moved from Showtime to streaming service Paramount+. The upcoming series is, of course, based on the beloved sci-fi shooter from Xbox and will be produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television.

Halo‘s long road to the small screen has taken one final turn. Showtime’s anticipated series based on the hugely popular Xbox video game franchise will migrate to Paramount+ and be available exclusively on ViacomCBS’ streamer. The announcement will be made during the ViacomCBS Streaming Event this afternoon.

We should get more information on the show’s move to Paramount+ later today.

UPDATE: The Halo series is officially debuting sometime in 2022 as revealed by Paramount+ yesterday.

An epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant. Halo will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.

The series will include the iconic video game character Master Chief played by Pablo Schreiber. Filming had been taking place in Budapest, Hungry and Pablo has suggested on Instagram that they’re still making the show.

This isn’t a shocking development as we saw something similar happen when WarnerMedia moved Ridley Scott’s sci-fi series Raised By Wolves from TNT to HBO Max, that worked out well for Max as the company revealed Wolves became their most popular original content last year.

At one time, director Neill Blomkamp and producer Peter Jackson were developing Halo as a feature film for 20th Century Fox before the project was killed as Blomkamp and Jackson pivoting to make District 9 instead.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Television News

Showtime’s ‘Halo’ Series Recasts Cortana Role With Franchise Voice Actress Jen Taylor

As Showtime’s Halo series has officially resumed filming in Budapest there has been a bit of a casting shakeup concerning the role of artificial intelligence character Cortana that assists Master Chief.

IGN is reporting that Halo video game franchise actress Jen Taylor is set to replace Natascha McElhone (Ronin) as Cortana in the series due to a scheduling conflict but will keep playing Dr. Catherine Halsey, the creator of Cortana.

IGN can exclusively reveal that Showtime’s Halo TV series has recast its Cortana actress, bringing in Jen Taylor for the role. You’ll know Taylor from her role as Cortana in all the mainline Halo games. It’s not yet clear if Taylor will play the role in-person, or lend her performance to a full CGI character.

Due to scheduling difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, McElhone can no longer complete her work as Cortana – but will continue in the role of Halsey.

Despite the delays it’s looking like they’ll be able to begin airing the 10-episodes of Halo sometime in 2021 on Showtime. They’ve already started the post-production process on the series.

SOURCE IGN

Posted on in Television News

Showtime and Pablo Schreiber Confirm Production Has Resumed In Budapest On Their Live-Action ‘Halo’ Series

After some recent hints from Halo lead actor Pablo Schreiber that filming was about to resume on the sci-fi series, Showtime and Pablo have confirmed this on Twitter/Instagram that production has started back up in Budapest, Hungary.

Pablo plays John 117 aka Master Chief in the sci-fi action military series based on the beloved Microsoft/Xbox video game franchise which will have 10-episodes on Showtime. Filming originally started in Budapest last November before COVID-19 restrictions became a hiccup in 2020 across the globe concerning the halt of film and television productions.

It was revealed by Rogue director M.J. Bassett, that he will not be returning to the series due to a scheduling conflict with his next film.

I’ve recently learned that Showtime has already started the lengthy post-production process on the series which is a good sign that they’ll be able to cross the finish line in the not too distant future.

SOURCE: SHOWTIME & PABLO SCHREIBER

Posted on in Television News

‘Halo’ Series Expected To Resume Filming Soon But Loses Director M.J. Bassett Due To Scheduling Issues

While promoting his upcoming action film Rogue, director M.J. Bassett was asked by The Hollywood Reporter about finishing up his work on Showtime’s Halo series. Bassett revealing that a commitment to another movie has become a conflict with a return to the show as filming will be resuming soon.

BASSETT: “I got wrapped about a few days before I was due to start shooting, and I can’t go back to it because I have another project I was penciled in for. It’s my next movie, in fact. I managed to keep the date for the movie, but Halo is also going to get up and running on that date. So I had a conflict and had to step away, which is a terrible shame because Halo is going to be a really fun show. I was really looking forward to it. We built the sets, planned everything and had scripts that were working. It’s going to be an enormous, enormous show. Pablo Schreiber is going to be a great Master Chief. The whole cast was good, but unfortunately, I can’t go back to it.”

A new Instagram post today from Master Chief actor Pablo Schreiber would suggest that they’re still shooting as production was taking place in Budapest. I recently got intel that Showtime has already started the lengthy post-production process on the sci-fi project.

An air date for Halo has yet to be announced by Showtime.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER