Halo TV Show Is Going "Very, Very Well" Despite COVID Delays

The COVID-19 pandemic has shut down nearby all Hollywood productions. That includes the Halo television show for Showtime. The cable network finally committed to making Halo, which has languished in development hell, into a full-fledged series. They even cast Pablo Schreiber (Orange is the New Black, American Gods) in the role as everyone's favorite Master Chief, John-117.

While promoting his Apple+ series Defending Jacob, Schreiber gave a brief update on Halo's production. The actors said the first season was pretty far along in terms of shooting before things shut down.

"We’re well into shooting the first season, but we haven’t completed," Schreiber told Collider. "But I don’t know that Showtime wants me to talk too much about the details. We’re well into shooting the first season, and it’s going very, very well. I love the people that I’m working with, and I’m very excited about showing it to the world."

"But now, obviously, in the quarantine landscape, everything has changed and we don’t know when we’re going back to work. We’ll go back to work on Halo eventually, whenever this thing settles down," he added.

Showtime's Halo show was stalled for a long time, originally announced in 2013 as a partnership between the network, Amblin Television, and Microsoft. As that series struggled towards production, the Halo 5: Guardians tie-in Halo: Nightfall released, starring eventual Luke Cage star Mike Colter. Director Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) was originally scheduled to showrun the series before dropping out in 2018. Finally, last year saw Showtime fully commit to the reality of a Halo television series, casting Schreiber in the lead role alongside Danny Sapani (Black Panther, Doctor Who, Harlots) as Captain Jacob Keyes, Olive Gray (Half Moon Investigations, Sex Education, Fleabag) as Dr. Miranda Keyes, and Charlie Murphy (Peaky Blinders, Happy Valley, Love/Hate) as a new character, Makee.

The Halo show was originally scheduled for a Q1 2021 release, but that's been pushed back indefinitely due to the pandemic.