Halo TV Show Heavily Inspired By Game Of Thrones
Showtime has been developing its planned Halo TV show for a while now and while progress was initially slow-going, recent months have proven much more productive for the Steven Spielberg-produced series. As the project continues its journey to premium TV, it appears the Halo adaptation has found more than adequate inspiration from another big-budget production in HBO’s popular fantasy series Game of Thrones.
In a recent interview with AIAS Game Maker’s Notebook, 343 Industries head Kiki Wolfkill spoke about her history with the Halo franchise and the challenges of transferring the sci-fi setting to the television medium. Wolfkill described the upcoming TV show as a “character-driven drama” with a “big budget, high-fidelity story” set firmly in the Halo universe. When discussing successful properties that might prove influential in that respect, Game of Thrones was said to be a strong reference for “scope and scale and complexity of relationships”.
We talk about Game of Thrones alot in terms if scope and scale and complexity of relationships. …It’s funny, a lot of the background of Halo is this, sort of, political drama, right? And it’s something that you touch on really lightly in the games and see more deeply in some of the other mediums. And so, I think something in a Game of Thrones–some of that complexity–is interesting.”
As Game of Thrones (particularly its earlier seasons) is often hailed for top-tier storytelling and visual effects, this would signal some pretty epic aspirations for the Halo TV series; 343 indicating a clear effort to avoid the long-fabled video game adaptation curse. Following in the footsteps of George R.R. Martin‘s acclaimed works is surely a welcome route to take, though perhaps not in every single regard, as Wolfkill jokingly addressed.
No incest planned at all for the show, I’ll say that. If you’re looking for that, you won’t find it here.”
While the effects of such GOT influences is impossible to be seen at this stage, production appears to advancing in other areas as suggested by Master Chief’s casting, the introduction of new creatives, as well as the series’ inevitably flexible relationship with Halo canon. It’ll surely be interesting to see how the Halo series might eventually play out, especially if Showtime opts to avoid the widely-ridiculed pitfalls of Game of Thrones’ final season.
Those interested in hearing Woldfkill’s entire interview can check out the AIAS Game Maker’s Notebook podcast below.
What do you think? Are you hyped that the Halo TV show is taking a Game of Thrones approach to storytelling, or do you feel that’s the wrong show to take lessons from? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow Don’t Feed the Gamers on Twitter and Facebook to be informed of the latest gaming and entertainment news 24 hours a day! For more headlines recently featured on DFTG, check out these next few news stories:
Eric Hall2712 Posts
Phone-browsing Wikipedia in one hand and clutching his trusty controller in the other, the legendary Eric Hall spreads his wealth of knowledge as a writer for Don't Feed the Gamers. Be sure to catch his biweekly "Throwback Thursday" segment for a nostalgic look at trivia from the past.
