Showtime remains optimistic about its long-gestating “Halo” TV adaption, despite losing its director, Rupert Wyatt, who had to leave the project last month.
“We’re putting a lot of time and energy into it and still pretty bullish on it,” Jana Winograde, co-president of entertainment at Showtime, told TheWrap at the Television Critics Association press tour on Thursday. “We are definitely in the hunt for a new director right now.” Winograde added that they hope to have someone locked in soon, but wouldn’t divulge who they might be speaking to.
Wyatt was attached to the project to serve as an executive producer and director of multiple episodes, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. “We think of it a little bit like a tentpole movie in the sense that, you know, those huge productions have sometimes directors come in and sometimes writers come in, sometimes they go out because the time frame is just so much longer,” Winograde explained.
Ordered to series last year, the 10-episode series is an adaptation of the popular video game franchise from showrunner Kyle Killen. Showtime’s series will be loosely based on the original 2001 game, “Halo: Combat Evolved,” which takes place during the 26th Century. It involves a conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant.
The newly-named entertainment co-president also spoke to TheWrap about a few other topics, including the just-announced 10th season of “Shameless.” She said it’s yet to be determined if the drama will continue past its 10th season — considering that star Emmy Rossum is departing the series. “We want to wait and see how this season plays out before making a decision,” she said.
She also spoke more on the decision to bring back “The L Word,” which Showtime is giving an eight-episode order to a follow-up series to its groundbreaking drama, set to premiere by the end of 2019. Marja-Lewis Ryan (“The Four-Faced Liar,” “6 Balloons”) serves as showrunner on the sequel and is executive producing, along with “The L Word” series creator Ilene Chaiken and original series stars Jennifer Beals, Katherine Moennig and Leisha Hailey.
“The world has changed so much since the first ‘L Word,” Winograde said. “They can really take a lot of equity that brand has and expand the stories in a really interesting way, at this moment in time.”
“The L Word” originally ran on the premium cable network from 2004 to 2009.