Halo showrunner explains why they ignored the games to make TV show
Paramount StudiosParamount’s Halo TV show is set to debut on March 24, 2022, but the hotly anticipated show has players concerned after showrunner Steven Kane admitted to discarding the games as an influence during the show’s creation.
The Halo TV show has had a languid journey to the small screen as it has spent multiple years in development hell. Iconic filmmaker Steven Spielberg had been attached to the show for years, helping spearhead its eventual launch with Steven Kane and Kyle Killen as showrunners.
Hopes are high for Master Chief’s live-action adventure but players are cautious after Kane claims they didn’t look to the games for inspiration.
ParamountHalo showrunner says they “didn’t look at the game” to create new TV show
The Halo franchise has a wealth of lore to pull from but in the case of the Halo TV show, showrunner Steven Kane has said in an interview with Variety that “we didn’t look at the game. We didn’t talk about the game.”
“We didn’t talk about the game. We talked about the characters and the world. So I never felt limited by it being a game,” continued Kane as he described the creative process.
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While the show’s creative team hasn’t completely dismissed Master Chief’s gaming origins, the decision to distance themselves from the games is likely to carve out their own identity within the franchise’s expansive lore.
“We didn’t look at the game. We didn’t talk about the game,” #Halo Season 1 showrunner Steven Kane says of his prep with the game’s developer, 343 Industries. “We talked about the characters and the world. So I never felt limited by it being a game.” https://t.co/Yde7snmhaM pic.twitter.com/eXERhAfsRv
— Variety (@Variety) March 16, 2022
Speaking on the pre-production process, Kane said “the richness and the depth of the universe was immediately kind of mind-boggling and incredibly exciting because what it means as a storyteller is that there’s already been a huge amount of preparation and groundwork.”
Kiki Wolfkin of 343 Industries, who oversees the franchise’s transmedia projects, added that “we were thinking about doing something that could tie very closely with the game.” However, despite their intentions to make the sure more close-knit, it “wasn’t serving the creative teams and their need to express a story and build the world through their eyes.”
Halo arrives exclusively on Paramount+ on March 24, 2022. Hopefully, the wait will have paid off.