Pablo Schreiber Enlists as Master Chief in Showtime’s Halo Series

Emmy and Tony nominee Pablo Schreiber will play Master Chief, the Spartan officer behind the iconic helmet, in the forthcoming Showtime series based on Xbox’s Halo series.

Showtime states that Schreiber (Orange Is the New Black, First Man) will take the controls to become “Earth’s most advanced warrior in the 26th century and the only hope of salvation for a civilization pushed to the brink of destruction by the Covenant, an unstoppable alliance of alien worlds committed to the destruction of humanity.”

It was also announced that rookie Yerin Ha has been cast as a brand new Halo character named Quan Ah, “a shrewd, audacious 16-year-old from the Outer Colonies who meets Master Chief at a fateful time for them both.”

Showtime CEO David Nevins has described the pay-cable channel’s Halo adaptation as “our most ambitious series ever,” which may help to explain why the project has been stuck in development for the better part of a decade.

Production on the series begins within the inner colonies (read: in Budapest, Hungary) this fall. Find out more about the project here.