Netflix’s Horizon Zero Dawn Series Has Been Canned, Report Claims

Last week, Rolling Stone reported on toxic behaviour perpetrated by Steve Blackman, a showrunner working on The Umbrella Academy. These claims were laid out by no fewer than twelve workers, and the reports made their way to Rolling Stone, which subsequently investigated, uncovering quite the controversy.

Blackman categorically denied the claims, which accused him of being a manipulative bully on set, but since the report surfaced, Rolling Stone has secured another scoop. One of Blackman’s other projects, the Horizon Zero Dawn prequel series, has been canned.

The topic of a Horizon-based TV show has long been discussed, given the series’ rich and immersive story and gorgeous world. It’s the perfect title to adapt for a live-action series, and it was in place to be developed at Netflix – until now.

According to a post by Rolling Stone’s Cheyenne Roundtree – who covered the original Blackman story – anything attached to the showrunner has now been canned, including Horizon Zero Dawn and Orbital. It’s not known ‘how far’ the team got with producing the Horizon TV show, but it’s not expected to have pushed too far down the line.

Scoop: Rolling Stone has learned that two of 'Umbrella Academy' showrunner Steve Blackman’s projects that were in development at Netflix, a Horizon Zero Dawn series and an original series, Orbital, are no longer moving forward https://t.co/cFnyww0n3Q — Cheyenne Roundtree (@cheyenne_round) July 3, 2024

It’s likely that Sony will pick up the production of the television series with another partner, especially given the recent success of other live-action adaptations, most notably The Last of Us, the award-winning series that broke records and became known as one of the best adaptations in history.

For more Insider Gaming coverage, you can read about the Watch Dogs movie, and sign up to receive the Insider Gaming newsletter