Showtime Announces Otto Bathurst Will Direct & Executive Produce 'Halo'

Otto Bathurst (Black Mirror, Robin Hood) is set to direct the highly anticipated SHOWTIME series HALO, based on the hallowed Xbox(R) franchise with Kyle Killen (Awake) serving as executive producer, writer and showrunner. Bathurst will helm multiple episodes and executive produce the live-action series, which has an initial nine-episode order. Produced by SHOWTIME in partnership with 343 Industries, along with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television, HALO will begin production later this year.

Bathurst's film and television credits include directing last year's adaptation of Robin Hood (starring Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx), the upcoming fantasy television series His Dark Materials, BAFTA(R) Award winner for Best Director and Best Drama Series nominee Peaky Blinders, the Emmy(R) winning anthology series Black Mirror and BAFTA Award winner Criminal Justice.

Halo reinvented how people think about video games and has grown into a global entertainment phenomenon, having sold more than 77 million copies worldwide and grossing more than $6 billion in lifetime total sales revenue. In its adaptation for SHOWTIME, HALO will take place in the universe that first came to be in 2001, dramatizing an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant. HALO will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.

HALO will be executive produced by Killen and Scott Pennington for Chapter Eleven, Bathurst and Toby Leslie for One Big Picture and Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank for Amblin Television in partnership with 343 Industries. The series will be distributed globally by CBS Studios International.