Following the
departure of Rupert Wyatt from Showtime's live-action
Halo television series, executives at the network have acted swiftly to find a replacement for the director and executive producer.
On Thursday, Showtime announced that Otto Bathurst will helm multiple episodes while also serving as executive producer, writer, and showrunner for the series based on the popular Xbox video game franchise.
Production on the
Halo series is scheduled to begin "later this year." The initial episode account also appears to have been reduced from the original 10-episode order to nine.
Bathurst, a British TV vet, has an extensive resume that could lend itself nicely to the sci-fi universe. He directed 2018's
Robin Hood, multiple episodes of
Peaky Blinders, and the infamous "
National Anthem" episode of
Black Mirror.
We don't have specific plot details yet, but Showtime did provide a general overview of the series.
In its adaptation for SHOWTIME, HALO will take place in the universe that first came to be in 2001, dramatizing an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant. HALO will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.
Showtime's
Halo TV series does not yet have a premiere date.
In the meantime, while we're on the subject of live-action adaptations of video games, you might want to
check out Neill Blomkamp's Conviction - An Anthem Story, a live-action short (well, more of a trailer) that was created for BioWare's newly released sci-fi game,
Anthem.