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South African directs Halo S2 finale
South Africa’s Jonathan Liebesman has directed four episodes from the second season of Halo, including this week’s finale.
Paramount+ original series, Halo, based on the iconic Xbox franchise and one of the highest-grossing game franchises of all time, will be available to binge on Showmax in Africa from this Friday, 20 May 2022.
With CBR hailing the series as “a compelling, gorgeous sci-fi adventure” and The Wrap proclaiming that the show “has the potential to be Paramount+’s flagship series”, Halo set a new record as the most-watched original series premiere globally on Paramount+ in its first 24 hours of release.
One of Rotten Tomatoes’ Most Anticipated Shows of 2022, Halo had been renewed by Paramount+ for a second season before the first even launched. Emmy nominee Pablo Schreiber brings humanity’s deadliest weapon – and our greatest hope – to life as the iconic Master Chief.
The series is set in a separate timeline to the games, dramatising an epic 26th-Century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant.
Natascha McElhone plays Dr. Halsey, the brilliant, conflicted and inscrutable creator of the Spartan super-soldiers, and Jen Taylor reprises her voice role from the game as Cortana, the most advanced AI in human history, and potentially the key to the survival of the human race.
“I worked on the game so I’ve been working on Halo for 21 years at this point,” Taylor said at the premiere. “To see it culminate this way is such an overwhelming joy. I hope that people who love the game will love this, and I hope that people who don’t know the game will think: ‘This is a great, fun sci-fi story.’ I think we’ll appeal to both fans and new fans.”
If the Halo universe sounds worlds away, it’s closer to home than you think: South African Jonathan Liebesman (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) directs four episodes, including this week’s finale, with compatriot Guy Potgieter (District 9, Homeland) as set decorator and Dale Butler as first assistant director.
The series also features the likes of Emmy nominee Bokeem Woodbine (Fargo, Spider-Man: Homecoming), Shabana Azmi (24), Natasha Culzac (The Witcher), Olive Gray (Half Moon Investigations), Yerin Ha (Reef Break), Bentley Kalu (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Kate Kennedy (Catastrophe), Charlie Murphy (Peaky Blinders, Happy Valley) and Danny Sapani (Killing Eve, Harlots). Also joining the cast as original characters are Ryan McParland (6Degrees), Burn Gorman (The Expanse) and Fiona O’Shaughnessy (Nina Forever).
Stream Halo on Showmax: showmax.com/eng/tvseries/rzulxzpl-halo
