MOVIE NEWS – The Halo TV series based on the Bungie and 343 Industries video games aired its final episode on March 22, and fans are awaiting news from Paramount+…

This Friday marks two weeks since the eighth and final episode of the second season of the Halo TV series. Fans have been waiting for Paramount+ to confirm that the sci-fi action series will soon return with new stories for a third season. Unfortunately, that announcement hasn’t come yet, and may never come.

So far, we have not received any official information from the American subscription service, nor from the creative leaders, about what the future holds for the television adaptation of Halo.

In other words, no decision has been made about Halo’s future. Maybe it’s worth stopping now and assessing the odds that Paramount+ will decide to cancel the series—or—and we all want this—if it chooses to renew it.

How did Halo TV Season 2 fare in terms of ratings?

When renewing a series, the most important thing is whether it has an extensive viewership. We don’t know what Paramount+ is aiming for with the series. But we can say that its broadcast brought great numbers to the platform. So much so that according to Nielsen it is among the top 5 most popular content in the USA.

The Halo Season 2 premiere totalled 354 million minutes in its first four days, making it the third most-watched original content in its debut week on streaming.

The other criterion that must be taken into account when renewing is whether the series was liked. The first season received quite a lot of criticism. So much so that it currently has a 50% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The second season received a slightly warmer reception, with 70% support. For its part, the trade press raised the average recommendation from 70% to 90%. On platforms like IMDb, episodes like Reach have received near-stellar ratings from audiences.

The problem: Halo is a costly series…

A “small” problem plays against it. Developing a technically advanced action/sci-fi series like Halo requires a considerable investment. The budget for the second season is unknown. But we do know that the first season cost about $90 million: $10 million per episode! In this second series, the creators of the series had to pay close attention to the expenses. So much so that they had to skimp on most of the series to give viewers a Battle of Reach worthy of the franchise.

Uncertainty at Paramount?!

Another aspect to consider in order to avoid positive news regarding the future of Halo in the short term is the current situation of Paramount Global. The century-old film studio has been put up for sale. For several months now, we have been hearing news about whether or not there is a possible destination among his assets.

Among the examined options is the merger of the American subscription service with NBCUniversal, as in the case of SkyShowtime in Europe, but nothing has become official yet, and it is possible that this will cause a stalemate in decision-making in the case of productions as expensive as Halo.

So it’s hard to bet on what will happen with Halo. The series is indeed one of SkyShowtime’s spearheads, along with the Star Trek series and the Yellowstone universe and its spin-offs. But it’s not cheap, and its range isn’t exactly rocket-like. Still, if Paramount decides to end it, we can’t rule out a move to another subscription service. In a few weeks, Prime Video will release Fallout, who knows if Amazon Studios, if they’re pleased with the results, won’t go for Halo next.

Source: X, Rotten Tomatoes