All Halo Movies (& The Paramount+ Show) In Order By Release Date & Chronologically — & Which Is The Best Way To Watch

While we’ve long awaited it, Halo movies have never come to fruition for the franchise, at least not as a feature-length theatrical or streaming release. However, there has been a big-budget streaming series that dropped on Paramount+ for fans to compare to the beloved video game. There have also been five other releases, advertised as movies but mostly functioning as miniseries, animated efforts, and other projects created primarily by the gaming studio to promote its newest game releases.

Video game fans have mostly complained about the Halo streaming series, which lasted two seasons before being canceled, but the lesser-known and less-seen movies, animation efforts, and miniseries have been much more loyal to the source material. Halo is a video game debuting in 2001 that follows a military force led by a warrior known as Master Chief battling an alien race set on starting a genocidal holy war. The movies and streaming series vary in loyalty to the original story, and here’s how to watch them in order.

Halo Movies In Order By Release Date

The First Halo Movie Came Out In 2007

The first Halo video game was released on shelves in 2001, and it took only six years for the first movie based on the game to arrive. However, there were plans even before that to bring the game to the big screen, something that has still never happened. In 2005, Columbia Pictures wanted to make a Halo movie and hired Alex Garland (28 Days Later) to write the script. Microsoft wanted too much money, so most studios passed (via NY Mag). As a result, the movie was never made and remains unmade as of 2025.

However, in 2022, Paramount+ secured the rights to create a streaming series based on the game. The only problem is that it wasn’t set in the game’s world, and the Halo show has its own unique timeline, called “the Silver Timeline.” With that said, there were still five other releases between 2007 and 2015 that took place in the video game timeline, and some of them even connected directly to the games as promotional material for the upcoming story arcs players could play on their own.

Halo: Landfall (2007)

Promo Shorts For Halo Games

https://www.profitableratecpm.com/uuz2jpqa4?key=bcd6daefdb9fb0aa4dfca088952b7ee1

The first official Halo release, called Halo: Landfall, arrived in 2007. This was a collection of three short films combined into an anthology rather than a full-length movie. The primary purpose of this release was to showcase the settings and special effects introduced in the game Halo 3. As a result, it was more about promoting the video game than telling a cohesive story. The third of these shorts was released just before the video game to lead into the gameplay.

The story was a prologue that showed what happened before the events of Halo 3 began. This involved the Human-Covenant War and an ancient parasite known as the Flood. In the game, Master Chief leads the battle against both the Covenant and the Flood. While released separately leading up to Halo 3, all three short films were combined into a single bundle and later released on YouTube’s Bungie channel. They were also sold as DVDs as part of online bundles.

Halo Legends (2009)

Anime In The Halo Universe

Halo Legends

Release Date

February 16, 2010

Runtime

120 Minutes

Director

Hiroshi Yamazaki, Daisuke Nishio, Megumi Shimizu, Tomoki Kyoda, Mamoru Oshii, Shinji Aramaki, Yasushi Muraki, Keiichi Sugiyama, Koji Sawai, Koichi Mashimo, Takahiro Tanaka, Hiroyuki Kawasaki, Hideki Futamura, Toshiyuki Kanno

• 
• 

  Emily Neves

  Female Soldier

• 

  Shelley Calene-Black

  Spartan

• 

  Shelley Calene-Black

  Cortana

Three years after the promotional short films bundled in Halo: Landfall, an animated movie was released. However, much like Landfall, this wasn’t technically a feature-length movie either. Halo: Legends was a series of seven short anime films combined into an anthology format. Similar to the Animatrix movies released in conjunction with The Matrix, these films were created by different Japanese animation studios. Each of these stories explores a different part of the Halo video game world.

These include stories that detail Master Chief’s origin, the abilities of the Spartans, the rivalry between Spartans and Orbital Shock Troopers, and more. These shorts delve into the hard sci-fi aspects of the Halo franchise, with six of the short anime films considered canon in the Halo universe. The seventh film, “Odd One Out,” produced by Toei, was considered a parody of the Halo video game series.

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn (2012)

The First Live-Action Halo Release

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is the first live-action Halo release. While there has been no official feature-length movie based on the video game franchise, this was shot as a feature-length film. However, after it was shot, the filmmakers split the story into five episodes and released it as a web series. Its initial release was between October 5, 2012, and November 2, 2012. The plot follows a group of UNSC military academy students who are unaware that the Human-Covenant War has started until they are thrown into action.

As the synopsis suggests, this takes place in the early days of the war and is told from the point of view of young soldiers who are unaware of what they are getting themselves into. The lead is Thomas Lasky (Thom Green), a young man who is thrust into a leadership role inspired by John-117. Master Chief is not part of the storyline, but he does make a cameo. This was released as a complete movie on DVD and Blu-ray after its release as a web series.

Halo: Nightfall (2014)

The Origin Story Of Agent Locke

Halo: Nightfall

Release Date

2014 – 2014-00-00

Directors

Sergio Mimica-Gezzan

Writers

Paul T. Scheuring

• 
• 

  Mike Colter

  Jameson Locke

• 
• 

  Sarah Armstrong

  Jordan Gaines

Halo: Nightfall was the second live-action release, but it was shot as a short film. Despite its status as a short, it has the most recognizable name of the non-Paramount Halo releases, with Mike Colter (Luke Cage, Evil) starring as Agent Jameson Locke, a Spartan-IV who was a major part of the video game Halo 5: Guardians. Colter’s appearance is likely thanks to the fact that this is a Ridley Scott production with David W. Zucker producing and Sergio Mimica-Gezzan as the director.

Related

Why Mike Colter Didn’t Return For Halo 5: Guardians

Mike Colter’s likeness might be used for Sparton Locke in Halo 5: Guardians, but here’s why he didn’t end up voicing the character too.

Nightfall is Agent Locke’s origin story, bridging the gap between Halo 4 and Halo 5. It takes place right after the Human-Covenant War ends, and Locke leads his team to stop the Sangheili Elites from setting off a biological weapon. Locke is not yet a Spartan at this time, but this release shows how he eventually moves into that role. Halo: Nightfall ended up released on DVD and Blu-ray and remains the most professional of the Halo pre-Paramount releases.

Halo: The Fall Of Reach (2015)

A Miniseries With Flashbacks To Master Chief’s Origins

Halo: The Fall of Reach was the last Halo release before Paramount+ began working on the streaming series. This was also the oldest story in the franchise’s movie and TV releases, as it is based on the very first Halo novel of the same name, published in 2001. It was made as a miniseries around the same time that Halo 5: Guardians was released. This entire series was meant to be an introduction to Master Chief and the Blue Team, which means it took place before Halo 5.

However, as an adaptation of the old novel, it is set up for Master Chief and the Blue Team to reminisce about their experiences with the Spartan-II program, which allows the old stories to unfold. This means the miniseries starts with the team in the present day and then shifts into flashback mode, covering their training and experiences before the war. The miniseries was included with the Halo 5: Guardians video game and can also be purchased in bundles on the game’s website.

Halo (2022)

The Biggest Budget Halo Release To Date

Halo

6/10

Release Date

2022 – 2024-00-00

Showrunner

Kyle Killen

Directors

Otto Bathurst, Jonathan Liebesman, Roel Reiné, Dennie Gordon, Debs Paterson, Craig Zisk, Jessica Lowrey

• 
• 

The Halo series that most people have seen is the one that dropped on Paramount+ in 2022. The big problem is that it’s based on Halo, but it has nothing to do with the video game’s storyline. That is because it is a separate timeline from the games and all the Halo movies and shows that came before. This is called the “Silver” timeline, which is necessary because the series changes many things, including the fate of Madrigal and the settlement of The Rubble.

Related

I’m Devastated Paramount’s Halo Show Will Never Get To Adapt 1 Fan-Favorite Character

Paramount has canceled the live-action Halo show after two seasons, which is upsetting as I’ll never get to see this character make his debut.

The first season received terrible reviews, and the fan backlash was intense. While the second season had a much warmer reception, it remained separate from the stories gamers had grown to love. However, the improvement wasn’t enough, and Halo was canceled after two seasons on Paramount+. The show follows Dr. Catherine Halsey and John-117 (Master Chief), and the Silver Team during the Covenant War. There are 17 episodes between the two seasons, and Halo ended in 2024.

Halo Movies In Chronological Order

There Are Two Halo Timelines In Movies

There are two different timelines in the Halo movies and TV world. The later timeline is the Halo streaming series on Paramount+. While it takes place in 2552, the events mostly occur before the main timeline, which begins years before this series. As a result, although it may seem confusing, the Halo Paramount+ series is the oldest in terms of action, but not in actual years. This is because the series follows Master Chief during his early days as John-117 in the Covenant War.

After that, the timeline becomes easier because the rest of the releases take place in the same timeline and world. While it was last released in 2015, Halo: The Fall of Reach is the first in the main timeline’s continuity because it tells flashback stories about the start of the Human-Covenant War through the eyes of Master Chief and his allies. After this is Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, which takes place at the start of the war and follows young recent students thrust into battle.

Halo: Landfall has a specific date, taking place on November 17, 2552. The various anime in Halo Legends mostly take place after 2552. Finally, the last in chronological order is Halo: Nightfall, which takes place after the war in 2556 and follows the rise of Agent Locke.