By Frank Pallotta
(CNN) — “Halo” is finally taking off at Showtime.
The network has ordered a 10-episode, live action version of the immensely popular video game.
The scripted drama based on the “Halo” franchise will be led by “Awake” and “Lone Star” producer Kyle Killen, who will act as executive producer and showrunner. Rupert Wyatt, the director of 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” will also be an executive producer and will direct multiple episodes of the hour-long series.
Showtime will produce the show in association with Microsoft/343 Industries and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television. Production on the series is set to begin in early 2019.
No premiere date has been announced.
“Halo” is one of the biggest names in the video game world. The sci-fi shooter series has sold more than 77 million copies worldwide and has grossed more than $5 billion in sales since launching in 2001.
The television series will dramatize “an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant,” Showtime said in its announcement.
Development on the series began in 2014.
“‘Halo’ is our most ambitious series ever,” David Nevins, Showtime’s CEO, said in a statement. “And we expect audiences who have been anticipating it for years to be thoroughly rewarded.”