Master Chief’s fight has ended. Today, Paramount+ announced that it has cancelled Halo after just two seasons.
In a statement, a Paramount+ spokesperson said: “We are extremely proud of this ambitious series and would like to thank our partners at Xbox, 343 Industries and Amblin Television, along with showrunner and executive producer David Wiener, his fellow executive producers, the entire cast led by Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief and the amazing crew for all their outstanding work. We wish everyone the best going forward.” However, the battle may not be entirely over as Amblin Television, Xbox, and 343 Industries are said to be shopping the series to other buyers.
“We deeply appreciate the millions of fans who propelled the Halo series to be a global success, and we remain committed to broadening the Halo universe in different ways in the future,” reads a statement from 343 Industries. “We are grateful to Amblin and Paramount for their partnership in bringing our expansive sci-fi universe to viewers around the world.“
The series stars Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief, with the rest of the cast including Natascha McElhone, Jen Taylor, Bokeem Woodbine, Shabana Azmi, Natasha Culzac, Olive Gray, Yerin Ha, Bentley Kalu, Kate Kennedy, Charlie Murphy, and Danny Sapani. The series received its fair share of criticism, with the frequent scenes of Master Chief without his helmet coming under fire, but the second season was seen as an improvement over the first.
Considering how long it took to get Halo off the ground, this cancellation is a shame. Years were spent developing a Halo movie before the decision to pivot to a TV series was made. After a few more years of development, Showtime gave the series an official order in 2018, only to have it jump over to Paramount+ a few years later. Halo was a big success upon its premiere, evening setting a record as the service’s most-watched series premiere globally in its first 24 hours.
How do you feel about Halo getting cancelled? Do you hope the series finds a new home?