Summary
Paramount+ has canceledHaloa few months following its season 2 finale. Many were looking forward to more episodes (Halostar Joseph Morgan previously expressed hopes for a season 3). However, the streaming platform was seemingly unhappy with the TV show’s results, leading to its eventual demise in the summer of 2024. The military science fiction series, developed by Kyle Killen and Steven Kane, isbased on theHalovideo game franchise,created by Bungie and developed by 343 Industries.Halo(the TV show) premiered in March 2022, and the video game’s popularity wasn’t enough to give the series longevity.
Halois one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time, with a total revenue of $6.5 million as of 2024 from video game sales and other media such as novels, films, comic books, and more.
Thevideo game adaptationHalofollows the original media’s story bydepicting a 26th-century war between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant.The Covenant is an alliance between several alien races whose goal is to wipe out humanity. At the center of the TV show’s story is Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, played by Pablo Schreiber inthe cast ofHalo, who is a Spartan supersoldier and the Silver Team leader in the United Nations Space Command. While containing some basic elements from the video games,Halooften strays from its source material, which might have contributed to its cancelation.
Halo Was Very Expensive For Paramount+
The Sci-Fi Show Might Have Cost Around $200 Million
Perhaps one of the most significant reasonsParamount+ canceledHaloafter two seasonsis its big budget. According toVariety,the military science fiction TV seriescost $10 million per episode to produce(at least, for its first season), bringing its expenses to around $170 million (if season 2’s rate was as high as season 1’s). Meanwhile,The Guardianreported thatHalo’s budget was closer to $200 million, and that article was only talking about season 1.
When weighing the costs and benefits, perhapsHalo’s output didn’t justify its high budget, making it easier for Paramount+ to come to its conclusion regarding season 3.
According to these sources,Paramount+‘sHalohad a total budget of around $170 million to $400 million(again, if season 2 cost as much as season 1). That range is quite large, but even if the number was closer to $170 million,Halois still an expensive series to produce. When weighing the costs and benefits, perhapsHalo’s output didn’t justify its high budget, making it easier for Paramount+ to come to its conclusion regarding season 3. Paramount Global has also been struggling as of late, and the company might have decided to cut some of its costs by cancelingHalo.
Halo’s Reception Wasn’t Great, Despite Season 2’s Improvements
Season 1 Has A 52% Audience Score On Rotten Tomatoes
Whilecritics’ reviews forHaloseason 1 were relatively positive, audiences seemingly didn’t agree. The Paramount+ show’s first set of episodes garnered a 70 percent score on the Tomatometer onRotten Tomatoes,but its Audience Score is 52 percent. As mentioned above,some fans were unhappy with the series' changes to the video game’s original story.Haloattempted to improve upon its season 1 reception with season 2, and the show evidently succeeded (although it was likely too late).
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Haloseason 2’s reviews(from critics) were overwhelmingly positive. The 2024 episodes received 90 percent on the Tomatometer as many critics marveled at how the military science fiction series was able to learn from season 1’s criticism and produce a season that was much more cohesive and entertaining.Halo’s Audience Score even improved from 52 percent to 69 percent in the show’s second season. Despite the massive changes in reviews from season 1 to season 2,the damage fromHalo’s original reception was apparently too great, and the Paramount+ series couldn’t recover.
What Were Halo’s Ratings Like?
The Halo Series Premiere Set A Paramount+ Record
Like many other streaming services, Paramount+ rarely releases the ratings for its original TV shows, which unfortunately includesHalo.However, the company did unveil how well the military science fiction series' pilot episode performed on the platform back in 2022. According toSlash Film,the series premiere ofHaloset a record by becoming Paramount+’s most-watched premiere in the first 24 hours of release.Of course, Paramount+ never revealed what exactly those record-breaking viewership numbers looked like, but they were impressive, nonetheless. Just one year later, though,Taylor Sheridan’s TV showSpecial Ops: LionesssurpassedHalo’s record.
By all accounts,Haloseason 1 performed quite well for Paramount+, while season 2’s ratings are unknown.Season 2 might have experienced a severe decline in viewership, which would account forHalo’s cancelation. Or the newer episodes could have achieved the same numbers as the previous set of episodes, and the TV show’s budget was just too high for Paramount+. Whatever the case, it is more than likely that many were still watching the series,but the viewership ratings forHaloseason 2 and its endingwere seemingly not enough to justify a third season.
This Canceled Sci-Fi Show Would Have Been Halo’s Perfect Replacement
The Halo TV adaptation has had a mixed reception since debuting in 2022, but one canceled Sci-Fi show would have been the perfect replacement.
Could Halo Season 3 Still Happen?
The TV Series Is Being Shopped Around To Other Outlets
Even though Paramount+ has given up onHalo,all hope is not lost for the military science fiction series. PerVariety,Xbox, Amblin TV, and 343 Industries (the show’s production companies) are actively shoppingHaloaround to other streaming services and media outlets. In this day and age of TV, there is a high probability that another platform could pick up the video game adaptation for a third season. So, while the cancelation news is disappointing to hear afterthe release ofHaloseason 2,hope remains thatHalocan continue somewhere other than Paramount+.
The improved reviews forHaloseason 2 also show promise for the series, which could persuade other platforms to continue its story by producing season 3.
Halohas a better chance than many other TV shows to get picked up by another outletafter getting canceled by its original home. It is based on a tremendously successful billion-dollar IP. As a result, its track record speaks for itself, and it already has a huge built-in fanbase. The improved reviews forHaloseason 2 also show promise for the series, which could persuade other platforms to continue its story by producing season 3. However, only time will tell what the future holds for the video game adaptationHalo.
Halo
Cast
A live-action adaptation of the video game franchise of the same name, Halo follows Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 (Pablo Schrieber) as he fights his part in a war between humanity’s United Nations Space Command (UNSC) and the Covenant, an alliance of multiple hostile races of aliens intent on destroying the human race. The Master Chief is supported by Cortana (Jen Taylor) - an AI construct based on the personality of Dr. Catherine Halsey, who created the Spartan supersoldier program - implanted in his brain.
