The Steven Spielberg-produced Halo TV series is still alive at Showtime... Though it seems it still may not be seen for quite awhile.

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Reports first surfaced back in May 2014 that Showtime was the potential home for the series -- which itself was first announced by Spielberg in 2013 (see the video below) -- and we then heard from Xbox shortly after that the series would debut fall 2015 , alongside Halo 5 - though Showtime's participation was never officially announcedSince then, there's been little public movement on the series, and clearly it was not going to make that projected debut date this fall. On the Halo/live-action adaptation front, Halo: Nightfall made its debut in the interim, but that was always a separate project.Today, at the TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour, I asked Showtime president David Nevins if he could give any update on Halo and if it was even still something Showtime was involved in.Nevins had a very quick answer, but one that did seem to indicate there continues to be a very good chance of seeing the series down the line, as he simply answered, "It's still in development. Still in very active development."I asked Nevins if we could hear any more details soon, and he replied, with a laugh, "No time soon." While there was no elaboration beyond this, it seems that whatever specific hurdles Halo has attached to it -- which obviously has many huge components involved, from Spielberg to Xbox -- it will continue to be a slow build towards actually making it to TV screens.Back when Variety first reported on the potential Showtime/Halo deal, they stated , "The deal with Showtime has taken a long time to work out because the sides are charting new territory for a show designed to air on Showtime as well as Xbox, with enhanced interactivity built in for the latter platform. Details are still being hammered out but sources say the plan is to have episodes bow on Showtime first, followed by the Xbox window."Given how much time has passed though, it remains to be seen just what the final distribution plan will be.