'Halo' TV series moves from Showtime to Paramount+

Feb. 24 (UPI) -- ViacomCBS announced Wednesday that the live-action Halo series would premiere exclusively on the Paramount+ streaming service. Viacom's premium channel Showtime was previously developing the series.

CBS Chief Creative Officer and Chairman/CEO of Showtime David Nevins said in a statement that Paramount+ would bring Halo to a wider audience than Showtime.

"We realized Halo had the potential to become a defining show for what will become the broadest streaming platform at ViacomCBS - the new Paramount+," Nevins said. "Showtime is looking forward to continuing to produce this incredible series with 343 and Amblin for Paramount+."

Showtime began developing the adaptation of the Xbox video game franchise in 2018. Pablo Schreiber will play Master Chief, the character whom players control in the game. Master Chief leads a team of 26th century space marines battling aliens.

Rupert Wyatt was originally to direct the pilot and executive produce the series with showrunner Kyle Killen. Wyatt left Halo in December of 2018. Otto Bathurst stepped in to direct, and Steven Kane joined Killen as co-showrunners. Amblin producers include Steven Spielberg, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey.

Additional cast members include Natascha McElhone, Jen Taylor, Bokeem Woodbine, Shabanza Azmi, Bentley Kalu, Natasha Culzac, Olive Gray, Yerin Ha, Kate Kennedy, Charlie Murphy and Danny Sapani.

Halo premieres in early 2022.