Former 'Halo' TV Series Director Reveals Why He Left

Back in February, news broke that Black Mirror's Otto Bathurst was taking over the upcoming Halo Showtime TV series, and while many were excited for the news, the reason behind the former director's departure was unclear. Now Rupert Wyatt has revealed the reason why he decided to walk away from the project, and as unfortunate as it was to lose him -- it was for a good reason, and news that bodes well for fans awaiting more show details.

"I got involved, I knew very little about Halo—same as I knew very little about Planet of the Apes when I got involved—and I kind of steeped myself in the mythology and began to realize how much incredible literature there was and the depth of the storytelling, and it all stacked up for me," said Rupert in an exclusive interview with Collider. "There was an incredible foundation for the storytelling, so it was gangbusters. I was super excited. In short, I think if I had come at it from an earlier perspective from the building of it then perhaps it would have gone differently, but as a director of a TV show it's quite hard to sort of become a creative architect of a show. I think in a way I was never gonna be that, and that's fine because there are really many talented people involved in that show who are doing that job."

As time continued on and production progress began to formulate into a more steady flow, he mentioned that it "became clear" that he needed more time, potentially even years, for this ambitious project to get the attention it deserved.

He added, "We were still kind of working on that, but it ultimately wasn't under my watch to be able to find that alignment. So there was a choice made by Showtime which was essentially to push things, and if I had been perhaps been the showrunner then I would have stayed on that journey for two or three years, but as a director of a finite number of episodes, there's other things I really wanna do. So I was very sad to leave, but basically it wasn't within the framework that I originally signed up for."

Between scheduling issues and a lack of background knowledge, it looks like the fit just wasn't quite there. Luckily Bathurst seems more than up to the task while fans await further news.

The gaming community is a tough crowd to please, and Halo is a very beloved franchise, but with Game of Thrones ending and Amazon's Lord of the Rings project in the works, now is the perfect time for Showtime to get in thick with this particular audience.

What do you hope to see in the upcoming adaptation? Sound off with your thoughts in the comment section below, or hit me up over on Twitter @DirtyEffinHippy!

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