HALO: The TV Series - Spielberg Will Teabag You In Prime Time
The reveal of Microsoft's new console, XBox One, is happening live right now. They're showing off the impressive new hardware and features of the console, and in the middle of game announcements they dropped a bombshell:
A live action Halo TV series is coming, and it's produced by Steven Spielberg. What's more, they're claiming it'll be a 'premium' show, on par with Game of Thrones.
That's big news. Peter Jackson was trying to get a Halo movie off the ground, but it proved too expensive. Now it's coming to TV? The good news here is that, as far as I can tell, Halo is largely a blank slate. It's about as willfully generic a property as I can recall. The lead character doesn't even have a name. But that generic quality gives the show a lot of leeway to be interesting and to bring us some fun scifi combat. I'm thinking this is probably going to be a reboot of Space: Above and Beyond, mostly.
The bad news: Spielberg. I know that seems like great news, but if you look at Spielberg's TV producing credits lately they're not so triumphant: Falling Skies, Smash, The River, Terra Nova. These are not good shows. I don't know if it's coincidence or what (I can't imagine Spielberg is too involved in any of these, on a day to day basis), but the precedent is clear. Don't have Spielberg produce your TV show.
More information is surely forthcoming. I wonder if this will be shopped to cable networks or broadcast or Netflix or what. With Microsoft's emphasis on rounded entertainment with the XBox One it would be pretty amazing if the show was on demand ONLY through the XBox. That could be a game changer.
