Hollywood has attempted to adapt Microsoft’sHalofranchise for years, with little success until Showtime’s live-actionHaloTV series, which is set to premiere at some point in 2021. Prior to Showtime’s adaptation, a variety of major directors were considered for aHalofilm adaptation, including Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro. And now we have a better idea of what exactly Guillermo del Toro’s take on a live-actionHalofilm would have entailed.
Halo: Combat Evolvedenvironment artist Paul Russel and otherHalodevelopers recently appeared on an episode of IGN’s Devs React to Speedruns series. During a speedrun ofHalo: Combat Evolved, Russel mentioned Guillermo del Toro’s ideas for the live-actionHalofilm, which he apparently pitched directly toHalowriter and cinematic director Joseph Staten. Apparently, Guillermo del Toro wantedMaster Chiefto have an evil twin brother in theHalomovie, who would side with The Flood. Then at the end of the movie, the two brothers would end up fighting each other.
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It sounds like Guillermo del Toro’s vision forHalowould have deviated quite a bit from the source material. It’s unclear if this idea was purely del Toro’s, or if this was a plot detail found in the Alex Garland, D.B. Weiss, or Josh Olson scripts. Ultimately, thelive-actionHalomoviewas set to be directed by Neill Blomkamp and directed by Peter Jackson, but it never finished production.
Other live-actionHaloprojects have been produced since then withHalo 4: Forward Unto DawnandHalo: Nightfall, but they were game tie-ins and lacked the scope of theatrically-released films. No newHalofeature-length film has been announced, but fans do have the upcoming Showtime adaptation to look forward to, though no substantial trailers for it have been released so far.
TheHaloTV series on Showtime starsPablo Schreiber ofThe WireandOrange is the New Blackfameas Master Chief. It’s being produced by Steven Spielberg, so it has some significant backing. It doesn’t appear as though the series will be directly adapting the story of the video games, but will still be set in the same general time asCombat Evolved, with Master Chief and the UNSC fighting against Covenant forces.
Depending on how successful theHaloTV seriesis, perhaps future seasons will more closely adapt the video game storylines. Fans will just have to tune in to the show when it premieres in 2021 to see if it lives up to expectations.
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