Adapting a video game into either a film or television program comes with its own sets of challenges. There are diehard loyalists who both want a faithful adaptation of the game that they played, but also a variation that shakes up the experience of picking up a controller and… you know, playing the actual game. From Uncharted (called the best video game movie by at least one person) to Resident Evil, franchises are experimenting with fun new ways to bring classic video game storylines to audiences, and Halo is the next one hoping to lure an audience.
Paramount Television Studios is bringing Halo to Paramount+, with nine episodes expected to open up the universe introduced in the game (by not adapting a storyline directly from the popular Xbox franchise). The show will still feature the game’s main antagonist, Master Chief – a supersoldier known as Spartan-117 who defends humanity against alien threats. When Halo held its world premiere at the South By Southwest film festival recently, the actor playing Master Chief in the series – The Wire and Law & Order’s Pablo Schreiber – sat down for an exclusive interview, during which I asked him what message he wants to convey to Halo fans who might be skeptical of the version that’s coming to streaming. In part, he told us:
My big message to fans would be, ‘It’s OK. Relax. We got you!’ And that this is a new experience in a world that you love so much and have loved for so long. It’s an opportunity to put down the controller and instead of being a co-owner or creator of this experience, you now get to sit back on the couch and watch this experience unfold.
Full disclosure: I’m not someone who played Halo a lot. We always had a Playstation, so I never really got a chance to delve into the world of Halo, and the role of Master Chief. But I do know that the video game has a massive and loyal audience who are arriving at this new series with expectations.
Having seen the first three episodes of Halo, I can tell you that I was completely sucked into the story that was unfolding, and I was impressed by the production design that went into the sci-fi landscapes. The action was brutal, and Pablo Schreiber’s Master Chief was exactly how I had pictured him to be on screen… relentless, with a touch of The Mandalorian in him. Which property is stealing from whom?
The reviews are in for Halo, so scan them if you are interested to see how the show is playing for the professionals. The cast is also very stacked, and there’s a great chance that you have seen them in other roles. Do you subscribe to the Paramount+ streaming service but can’t get a handle of all the programming available? Our list of Paramount+ TV shows will keep you up to date and informed.
