In May, 2022, Variety reported that Netflix was developing a series based on hit PlayStation game, Horizon Zero Dawn. Part of the flurry of announced adaptations following the success of HBO’s The Last of Us, showrunner Steve Blackman was attached to the project that would see a live-action Aloy and her fight against the robosaurs come to the streaming service. However, Rolling Stone is now reporting that, in light of allegations made against Blackman, the show could be in jeopardy.
Blackman, who rose to prominence following the success of his Netflix show The Umbrella Academy, was reported on June 30 by Rolling Stone to be facing accusations of a “long history of toxic, bullying, manipulative, and retaliatory behavior.” The article goes on to detail claims that the showrunner created “an environment of fear and distrust,” took credit for others’ work, and made comments that were “sexist, homophobic and transphobic.” Blackman denies all the allegations, calling them “entirely untrue.”
As The Umbrella Academy entered its second season in 2020, the first having been one of Netflix’s biggest ever hits, Blackman was signed up to a four year deal worth reportedly $50 million to continue developing projects for the streamer. One of those shows would be Sony’s Horizon Zero Dawn, sold during the frenzy following TLoU, which would eventually gain Blackman and Michelle Lovretta (Umbrella Academy, Killjoys) named as showrunners, although with no further information having emerged since.
Rolling Stone updated its story July 3 to say that the site “has learned that the two projects are no longer moving forward with Blackman,” the other project being a sci-fi show called Orbital. The article adds that a representative for Blackman says he “continues to work on new projects” with Netflix, and that he had “signed a new multi-year deal earlier this year.” However, the respondent didn’t mention Horizon. Netflix, apparently, continued to decline to comment on the story.
There is some ambiguity as to where this leaves the HZD TV show. The RS article says the project is “no longer moving forward” with Blackman, but the author of the piece, Cheyenne Roundtree, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the shows themselves “are no longer moving forward.” We’ve reached out to Roundtree for clarification.
Given there has been no information on Horizon’s TV adaptation since 2022, it seems relatively likely it would still have been in pre-production, whatever its fate now. Still, it would make for the most fantastic show, so here’s hoping it can be picked up and run with by someone worthy of the franchise.
.