Halo appears to be a massive hit for Paramount+ as the series is reporting it had the biggest premiere on the streaming service. Based on the popular video game series of the same name, Halo follows Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber) in a war between the United Nations Space Command and a military alliance of various advanced alien species known as Covenant. The series premiered on the streaming service on March 24, 2022.
The series had been in development for years, first announced in 2013 with Steven Spielberg producing. Halo was originally developed for Showtime but moved over to Paramount+ as it was seen as a better fit for the streaming service, given the high-profile science-fiction series the streamer has, like the various Star Trek programs. Paramount+ took out a massive marketing campaign for the series, including a Super Bowl spot, to draw in audiences who may never have played the video games to tune in to watch the series.
It seems the series captured a lot of attention, as Paramount+ has revealed that Halo has become the service's most-watched original series ever in the first 24 hours. While no exact numbers or data was given, the streamer revealed that Halo broke the record both in the United States and internationally. Tanya Giles, Paramount+'s Chief Programming Officer, released a statement celebrating the series' record-breaking premiere. The statement can be read below:
"Bringing HALO to life as a streaming series has been one of the most rewarding efforts for Paramount+ to date and we could not be more thrilled at the massive fan response to the series’ debut. Along with our phenomenal partners at SHOWTIME, 343 Industries and Amblin Television, we cannot wait for fans to experience more of this incredible universe.”
Paramount+ is a relatively new streaming service, as it is a rebrand of CBS All Access, which itself was launched on October 28, 2017. The streamer has been publicized breaking records for a while, as back in November 2021, Clifford the Big Red Dog set a record for Paramount+ as the most-watched original film on the service. The streamer also propped up Star Trek: Discovery as their most-watched series, yet no metric or data was given to track how many audience members viewed the series. So, while Halo set a record on Paramount+, it is unclear how the series' numbers stack up against other recent streaming series like Peacemaker or The Book of Boba Fett.
Despite that, these numbers are good for Halo as the series already has been renewed for season 2 on Paramount+. There are a number of factors to the series' massive premiere, given the franchise's 21-year history and fanbase eagerly anticipating the game series finally realized in live-action, to the recent video game, Halo: Infinite, likely acting as a nice bit of brand synergy reigniting interest in the property. Now, it will be interesting to see if viewers stick around for Halo and how the series will handle competition from series like Moon Knight.
Source: Paramount+