Halo series producer reveals Steven Spielberg’s surprising hands-on influence for the TV show

Master Chief in the Halo TV series — (Image credit: Paramount)

Steven Spielberg has had a long and storied history with shepherding the Halo franchise to television. As far back as 2013, the legendary director was attached to produce an adaptation of the video game series. Now, the Halo TV show is just around the corner, with Spielberg’s Amblin Television company helping to bring the series to Paramount Plus.

But far from taking a hands-off approach, Halo executive producer Darryl Frank has revealed to Total Film, ahead of ithe new issue of the magazine, that Spielberg’s influence is far-reaching.

"We treated it as though it was a legacy project of Steven’s," Frank said. "He godfathered it in terms of reading every script, helping choose showrunners, writers, director, cast, production design, and visual effects; every aspect of it, he looked at."

Those intrigued by Spielberg’s involvement but aren’t familiar with the Halo series of games needn’t fear being shut out. Showrunner Steven Kane has outlined plenty of reasons why non-fans will still enjoy Halo, which premieres March 24 in the US and later this year in other regions.

"If you’re absolutely new to the game or don’t know anything about it, it’s still a great story," Kane explained. "It’s a great war story and a love story. It’s a story of intrigue and a story of characters who are just reaching for something, and they’re all yearning for something that’s just beyond their grasp."

To hear more from the key creatives behind the Halo series (as well as a cover feature on Robert Eggers' The Northman), be sure to snap up the new issue of Total Film when it hits shelves on Thursday, March 3.

Total Film's The Northman issue — (Image credit: Universal/Total Film)

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Tara is the NYT bestselling author (or co-author) of 30 movie and TV companion books including the upcoming official history of Marvel Studios. She's also a freelance journalist with bylines at print and online publications such as: SCI FI Magazine, Total Film, SYFY Wire, Today.com, Fandom, Fandango/Movies.com, Fancast, Newsarama, Star Wars: Insider, Walking Dead Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, LOST: The Official Magazine, Alias Magazine, 24 Magazine, and VFXWorld.com. She is also the U.S. Editor for the world’s premiere sci-fi/fantasy publication, SFX Magazine. She is the host and producer for SYFY Wire’s official podcasts for USA Network’s, Colony, HISTORY's Project Blue Book official podcast, and the Lost retrospective, Through the Looking Glass co-hosted with Maureen Ryan.

With contributions from

Bradley Russell