Master Chief is finally gearing up for action.
Paramount Plus has unveiled the official trailer for its highly anticipated science fiction series “Halo.” The first look footage also revealed a premiere date of March 24.
Based on Xbox Game Studios’ best-selling series of first-person shooter video games, “Halo” is set in the 26th century and focuses on the adventures of Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber), a cybernetically enhanced super-soldier known as a Spartan that defends humanity under the orders of the United Nations Space Command. While plot details of the live-action series are being kept under wraps, most games in the “Halo” franchise focus on the UNSC’s war with an alien theocracy known as the Covenant.
Set to a cover of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” the trailer features Master Chief engaged in action, teasing plenty of large-scale battles, alien planets and energy swords.
In addition to Schreiber, “Halo” will also feature Natascha McElhone as Dr. Catherine Halsey, the creator of the Spartan program, and Jen Taylor, who reprises her voice role as the AI Cortana from the “Halo” video games. The main cast is rounded out with Yerin Ha, Charlie Murphy, Shabana Azmi, Bokeem Woodbine, Olive Gray, Kate Kennedy, Natasha Culzac, Bentley Kalu, Danny Sapani and Jesse Tyler Ridgway.
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The live-action “Halo” series has been in development since 2013 and was initially set to be produced by the now-defunct Xbox Entertainment Studios as a show exclusive for the Xbox One. “Halo” was ordered to series in 2018 by Showtime and began filming October 2019 before pausing production due to COVID-19 in 2020. Last February, it was announced that the show had moved from Showtime to Paramount Plus.
The “Halo” series is produced by Showtime alongside 343 Industries, the current developer of the “Halo” video games, with Kiki Wolfkill, Frank O’Connor and Bonnie Ross serving as executive producers on behalf of the game studio. Amblin Television will also produce, with Steven Kane serving as showrunner while executive producing alongside Steven Spielberg, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey. Otto Bathurst and Toby Leslie executive produce for One Big Picture, while Kyle Killen and Scott Pennington executive produce for Chapter Eleven.
Killen and Kane were initially set to serve as co-showrunners for the project; however, in June Variety reported that Killen had stepped down prior to production, with Kane leading the series on his own while the show shot in Budapest.
Watch the full trailer below.
