Summary
- Expensive production costs likely led to Halo's cancelation on Paramount+.
- Halo season 1 was received negatively by audiences, which may have influenced the decision to end the show after season 2.
- Halo's producers are exploring options to continue the series on other platforms.
Paramount+ has canceled Halo star 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, is based on the Halo video 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.
Halo is 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.
The the cast of Halo, 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, Halo often 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 reasons Paramount+ canceled Halo after two seasons is its big budget. According to Variety, the military science fiction TV series cost $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 Guardian reported that Halo's budget was closer to $200 million, and that article was only talking about season 1.
When weighing the costs and benefits, perhaps Halo'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+'s Halo had 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, Halo is still an expensive series to produce. When weighing the costs and benefits, perhaps Halo'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 canceling Halo.
Halo's Reception Wasn't Great, Despite Season 2's Improvements
Season 1 Has A 52% Audience Score On Rotten Tomatoes
While critics' reviews for Halo season 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 on Rotten 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. Halo attempted to improve upon its season 1 reception with season 2, and the show evidently succeeded (although it was likely too late).
Halo |
Number Of Episodes |
Release Date |
Tomatometer |
Audience Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Season 1 |
9 |
March 24, 2022 – May 19, 2022 |
70% |
52% |
Season 2 |
8 |
February 8, 2024 – March 21, 2024 |
90% |
69% |
Halo season 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 from Halo'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 includes Halo. However, the company did unveil how well the military science fiction series' pilot episode performed on the platform back in 2022. According to Taylor Sheridan's TV show Special Ops: Lioness sured Halo's record.
By all s, Halo season 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 for Halo'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 for Halo season 2 and its ending were 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 on Halo, all hope is not lost for the military science fiction series. Per the release of Halo season 2, hope remains that Halo can continue somewhere other than Paramount+.
The improved reviews for Halo season 2 also show promise for the series, which could persuade other platforms to continue its story by producing season 3.
Halo has a better chance than many other TV shows to get picked up by another outlet after 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 for Halo season 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 adaptation Halo.
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 ed 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.
- Franchise(s)
- Halo
- Seasons
- 2
- Creator(s)
- Kyle Killen, Steven Kane
- Where To Watch
- Paramount Plus
Sources: Variety, The Guardian, Rotten Tomatoes, Slash Film
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