Summary
- Paramount+’s canceled Halo series is now available on Netflix in select regions.
- The move to Netflix serves as a litmus test to gauge interest in a potential third season.
- Viewership on Netflix will determine if Halo gets a chance to provide closure to its narrative.
Halo just got dropped on another streaming service, opening the series up to a whole new audience for the first time since its cancellation earlier in 2024. Does this relocation have the chance of broadening Halo’s outreach and breathing new life into the series? Or is it just simply doomed to fade into the ether forever?
This big-budget adaptation has seen more than its fair share of issues in its long and arduous journey to reach the small screen. A Halo adaptation had been in the works since 2005. The original creative vision for the series was a film, tipped to be directed by Neill Blomkamp. When considering the exceedingly expensive budget for the final product, it’s not hard to see why. Some reports estimate that each episode of the first season cost around $10 million; an eye-watering amount for any eager streaming service looking to make a dent in the market. There has been much speculation as to why the show faced the ax, but the most likely conclusion to be drawn is that it came down to simple cost-cutting. However, its cancellation received a mixed reaction among fans at the time. Season 1 was, admittedly, a fairly average sci-fi show, leading to a declining interest in the adaptation’s long-term potential. But by the end of the second season, the lukewarm response had been reversed to an extent, managing to earn an overall rating of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.
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Almost eight months after its cancellation, the show has been given a new lease of life on Netflix. Patrick Cremona of The RadioTimes reports that Netflix has released the first season of Halo in certain selected territories around the world. The first slate of episodes will be accessible in the United Kingdom, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and in some markets across Europe. This international export of one of Paramount’s leading programs has turned many heads towards the possibility of a third season.
Will Netflix Head Up A Third Season?
This isn’t the first time Netflix has shielded shows struggling to succeed in a chaotic and unpredictable online television landscape. After Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ solidified themselves as the big three streaming companies, other services have lagged behind. Programs like Scavengers Reign, an original animated sci-fi show, had an extremely short lifespan on HBO Max. The series was then brought to Netflix in the hope that it would boost viewing figures and secure a second season. Peacock, NBC Universal’s streaming service, chose not to renew Netflix’s right to broadcast The Office (US) in the United States, returning the show to their burgeoning home platform. However, Netflix was still able to keep the iconic sitcom in some regions, like the United Kingdom.
It seems like Halo‘s new home on Netflix may be taking a similar approach. Only publishing the first season of the series firmly indicates that Netflix and Paramount+ are conducting a litmus test to find out if the show still has enough appeal to reignite hype for the brand. After all, the finale last year left so many plotlines hanging in the air unfinished. In the final episode, The Flood was released onto Onyx, creating a nail-biting cliffhanger, in which the terrifying alien parasite attacked the UNSC. The creator of the SPARTAN program, Natascha McElhone’s Dr. Catherine Halsey also became infected, and was then cryogenically frozen to slow the progression of the infection. Whether Halsey survives or not is now up to a potential future season to explore. If Netflix and Paramount+ are to do a joint third Halo outing together, then they need reassurance that viewers will stick around in the long run.
Any executive or producer making key decisions knows that click rates, audience retention, and viewing figures are the name of the game when it comes to the approval or cancellation of these streaming productions. If fans of the Halo series outside the US want to see the show continued in a third installment, it is in their best interest to binge every episode of Season 1 on Netflix as soon as possible. This may be the only way to guarantee that the overarching story of the Halo Silver Timeline sees a fitting conclusion.
Halo Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix in selected regions and territories.
Source: RadioTimes