Season 1 of a cancelled Paramount+ video game series has become a global streaming hit on the rival platform Netflix. Paramount+ is a streaming service owned by Paramount Global that launched in 2014 as CBS All Access before being rebranded in 2021. At the time of writing, the streamer contains both library titles and original features and series from across a variety of brands including Nickelodeon, CBS, Showtime, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, and the Smithsonian Channel.

Paramount+ has followed a modern streaming trend by adapting multiple popular video game franchises into television projects. These types of shows have become especially lucrative in the wake of HBO's post-apocalyptic smash hit The Last of Us, with other prominent examples including Netflix's The Witcher and Arcane, Peacock's Twisted Metal, and Prime Video's Fallout, as well as their Tomb Raider series. Paramount+'s contributions to the genre include the Sonic the Hedgehog spinoff Knuckles and their cancelled series that has since become a Netflix hit.

Halo Season 1 Has Landed In Netflix's Top 5

Paramount+ Cancelled The Show In 2024

Halo season 1 has now become a global Netflix hit after the show was cancelled by Paramount+. The live-action television series was adapted from the video game franchise of the same name and followed the soldiers fighting to protect humankind from the alien forces of the Covenant. Season 2 was renewed before the show even launched, at which point it broke the record for Paramount+'s most-watched series premiere. However, the streamer did not move forward with Halo season 3, cancelling the series in July 2024, four months after the season 2 finale.

The Halo series, which was developed by Kyle Killen and Steven Kane, starred Pablo Schreiber, Shabana Azmi, Natasha Culzac, Olive Gray, Yerin Ha, and Bokeem Woodbine.

Netflix has now calculated their global Top 10 chart of the most-watched English-language series during the week of March 3 through 9. Halo season 1 has debuted at No. 4, behind the Netflix originals Toxic Town, Zero Day, and Running Point, with 4.2 million viewers amassing a total of 32.1 million viewing hours. Even though the show is not available on the platform in the United States, this is the case because it is in the Top 10 in 44 regions and No. 1 in eight, namely Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Belgium, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

What This Means For Halo

Season 3 Could Have A Future

While this success for Halo season 1 could potentially prompt Netflix to pick up the series for season 3 after its cancellation, that prospect seems somewhat unlikely given the fact that it is not available in the United States. This is probably the case because their streaming license seems mostly limited to regions not serviced by Paramount+, which is only available in limited European countries and is not currently accessible in any nations in Asia or Africa. Below, see a breakdown of their availability outside the Americas, via the official Paramount+ website:

However, this success could prompt Paramount+ to reconsider the show's cancellation if it continues to chart consistently on Netflix in the coming weeks. If it drops out of the Top 10 immediately, this will likely not move the needle, but sustained viewership could very well pique the interest of producers. It may even lead to an unprecedented partnership between Paramount+ and Netflix, as the latter streamer could distribute the show to the international regions most interested in the project that aren't serviced by the former.

Our Take On Halo's Netflix Success

Season 3 Could Have Been The Best Yet

Ultimately, it seems likely that the Halo cancellation happened in the first place because its streaming numbers were not strong enough to make up for the sci-fi show's huge budget. Although its official budget has not been officially announced, it has been reported that season 1 cost at least $10 million an episode and potentially reached as high as $200 million in total. If season 2 had a similar budget, the entire show may have cost somewhere between $200 million and $400 million in total.

This was probably a huge impediment for Paramount+, as a recent report by Parrot Analytics (via Taylor Sheridan shows between 2021 and the third quarter of 2024 (Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Special Ops: Lioness, 1883, and 1923) collectively earned just $263 million.

The Taylor Sheridan data was collected before the release of Landman season 1 and 1923 season 2.

Given those shows' popularity and the fact that Halo is just one series with two total seasons, it seems likely that the video game adaptation earned much less than $200 million for the streamer. However, this is a shame because the series was steadily improving. Below, see a breakdown of how both seasons of the show were received by critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes:

With critics and audiences' esteem leaping up an average of 18.5% on Rotten Tomatoes, if Paramount+ had seen fit to continue the series, it was possible that Halo season 3 would have earned the first solidly Fresh score from audiences ever, which might have drawn more eyes to the project, much like its new Netflix availability. While its new chart ranking is proof positive that there are still audiences interested in the property, it ultimately remains to be seen if it will be enough for the show to return or for a new, potentially less expensive, version to be mounted.

Source: Netflix, Paramount+, & Parrot Analytics (via TheWrap)