Steven Spielberg's Halo TV Show Is Still Alive, Showtime President Gives Update

It was 2001 when the first Halo game launched on the original Xbox and since then, fans have often wondered how long it would take before the franchise was adapted to TV or film. To this day, however, it hasn't come to pass.

It's not for a lack of trying, though. It was 2013 when Microsoft announced Steven Spielberg was developing a take on the franchise for Showtime, in which he would act as a producer. Since then, practically nothing has been said about the project. Still, the network says the project is very much alive.

Speaking to TV Guide at the Television Critics Association winter press tour, Showtime president David Nevins promises, "[It's] still in very active development." It's worth noting those same words were used in 2015. He wouldn't elaborate beyond that, except to say he's seen scripts from the proposed series.

Showtime president of programming Gary Levine echoed that sentiment, adding that Halo "is absolutely still in development, still moving forward and I'm encouraged by what we've seen so far." He also confirms the adaptation is a live-action series that he believes "will definitely satisfy the fans of Halo and I think also satisfy the drama audiences of Showtime." There's still no word on when it will actually happen, though.

It's promising that Showtime is still pursuing the series, given how other attempts have fallen apart in the end. In 2005, Microsoft famously tried to get a film version of Halo off the ground by sending men dressed as Master Chief to various studios in Hollywood, armed with scripts to show movie executives.

While that may not have worked out in the end--and was, honestly, a little over-the-top for trying to get any movie made--Halo still remains a viable franchise. Should Showtime want an epic sci-fi series to become a cornerstone of their programming, Master Chief may be the answer. After all, with five main games and a series of spin-offs to its name, there is still plenty of life left in Halo.