'Halo' video game franchise to get Showtime live-action series

The "Halo" video-game franchise is coming to TV in a new form: a live-action, scripted drama series.

Showtime Thursday announced it is picking up a 10-episode season of the tentatively titled "Halo," based on the iconic Xbox franchise. Production will begin in 2019. Premiere date and casting details were unavailable.

According to the Showtime description, the series adaptation "will take place in the universe that first came to be in 2001, dramatizing an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant. 'Halo' will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future."

Showtime is producing the series in concert with Microsoft/343 Industries and Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television. Executive producer Kyle Killen (TV's "Awake") will oversee the series and serve as its writer, with Rupert Wyatt (2011's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes) directing multiple episodes and also serving as executive producer.

In a statement, Showtime president David Nevins called "Halo" the pay-cable network's "most ambitious series ever, and we expect audiences who have been anticipating it for years to be thoroughly rewarded,” said Nevins.

More than 77 million copies of "Halo" have been sold worldwide since the game's debut in 2001, according to the Showtime announcement.

WSBTV