Thread by @Variety

#Halo’s Season 1 showrunner Steven Kane estimates he wrote more than 265 drafts of the first nine episodes, balancing everything from the production’s needs to story notes from Steven Spielberg to the desire to fold in as much of the mythology as possible. bit.ly/3tgwafy

“The richness and the depth of the universe was immediately mind-boggling and incredibly exciting,” Master Chief actor Pablo Schreiber says of #Halo. “What it means as a storyteller is that there’s already been a huge amount of preparation and groundwork.” bit.ly/3tgwafy

#Halo Season 1 showrunner Steven Kane on Master Chief’s storyline: “We’re going to tell a story about a man discovering his own humanity.” bit.ly/3tgwafy

While the #Halo series will draw heavily from the game’s mythology, it will chart its own separate storytelling path. The “Halo” TV series exists in what 343 is calling “the Silver Timeline.” bit.ly/3tgwafy

Jen Taylor, who voices Cortana in the #Halo games & plays the character in the series via performance capture, says the show is a “different kind of beast”

“Do you want it to be exactly the way you’ve already played it and already seen it? I’m not sure” bit.ly/3tgwafy

“We didn’t look at the game. We didn’t talk about the game,” #Halo Season 1 showrunner Steven Kane says of his prep with the game’s developer, 343 Industries. “We talked about the characters and the world. So I never felt limited by it being a game.” bit.ly/3tgwafy

The #Halo showrunner says he gives credit to Microsoft: “You can pitch them something brand-new, and unless it really complicated them in terms of the canon or the values of the show, they embraced it.” bit.ly/3tgwafy

With a budget running more than $10 million per episode, the #Halo TV series (already renewed for Season 2) is easily Paramount Plus’ strongest argument yet that it belongs at the big kids table with Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video and HBO Max. bit.ly/3tgwafy

#Halo “is a swing for a broad audience,” says Tanya Giles, chief programming officer at Paramount Plus. “My hope is this expands what the Paramount Plus brand can mean.” bit.ly/3tgwafy

Showtime co-president of entertainment Gary Levine on the #Halo series’ move to Paramount Plus: “We knew it could really thrive there, and they could throw a whole lot of money at it to ensure it’s a success.” bit.ly/3tgwafy

#Halo Season 1 ends with “a great cliffhanger,” says Amblin Television presidents Justin Falvey. bit.ly/3tgwafy

Read @adambvary’s feature on the #Halo adaptation’s long road to finally hitting screens. bit.ly/3tgwafy