‘The Walking Dead’s David Wiener in Talks to Showrun ‘Halo’ Season 2

Halo hasn’t even premiered, and it’s already eyeing a new showrunner. At the Television Critics Association’s 2022 winter tour, the producers of Paramount+‘s upcoming Halo series spoke about the behind-the-scenes future of this space thriller. And it seems as if this show’s production doors are going to keep revolving.

It’s difficult to think of a show that’s had a more tumultuous production process than Halo. The series was first announced in 2013. During those young, hopeful years, Steven Spielberg was attached to the project and Showtime was hoping for a 2015 premiere date. Nine years later, the series has seen two executive producers step down, several director shifts, Steven Kane added as co-showrunner alongside Kyle Killen, and the switch to an entirely new network. Both Killen and Kane have stated that if Halo is renewed for a Season 2, they would not be returning to the project. But don’t worry. According to executive producer Justin Falvey, the team already someone else in mind.

“We are talking to David Wiener, who is off Flesh and Bone and The Walking Dead, as showrunning the second season,” Falvey said. “Our intention is to produce several seasons of this show. There’s a lot of story to tell, and as Pablo [Schreiber] indicated, we have so many buckets we can dip into with these pre-existing characters and these new characters and these worlds, literally the universe. Talk about a world-building show.”

During the panel, Kane also explained why he would be stepping away from the project.

“I came in rather late, and I benefitted from all the work that came before me. I never really thought it would be a more than one season thing because of the amount of work it takes. It’s a very challenging show to write and produce,” Kane said. “I came in and sort of redeveloped and fleshed out, did my work. But it can’t be done remotely. So I was in Hungary for close to two years out of the three I was working on it. As much as I enjoyed every minute of it, it’s a long time to be away from my family. My kids are in their final years of high school, and so I didn’t want to leave again. While making Halo is, for me, a career highlight, I knew I could only really do it for one season.”

Kane revealed that post-production for Season 1 is currently taking place in Los Angeles. “The show looks amazing. If and when there’s a second season, I’m going to take a step back and consult and be available for the new people,” Kane said. “We’ll have a new team come in and some fresh eyes to pick up where I left off, which I think is kind of great for the show, just to keep bringing in new people. It’s such a big world that it takes 10 times more work and energy than any normal show. Bringing in fresh eyes to go from there is going to be exciting for the show, and I’m excited to see what comes next.”