Horizon Zero Dawn TV Series Cancelled Due to Disgraced Showrunner

The live-action version of Horizon may not be happening after all, as reports suggest that Netflix has cut ties with the series’ creative director.

While all video game companies are suddenly getting a lot of interest in Hollywood, it’s Sony that has the most clout right now, in terms of live action projects.

The success of Uncharted, Twisted Metal and especially The Last Of Us did not go unnoticed and the adaptations of Horizon Zero Dawn and God of War quickly became inevitable, even if it is somewhat surprising that it is a television series rather than a film.

Or rather, Horizon was supposed to be a TV series. Due to the fall of showrunner Steve Blackman, best known for The Umbrella Academy, the series was cancelled indefinitely.

Blackman has been implicated in stories of toxic working conditions at The Umbrella Academy and other shows, including “bullying, manipulative and retaliatory behavior.”

Although he claims they are “totally false,” his reputation is now in tatters, and it was enough for Netflix to remove him from the Horizon series.

According to an update from Rolling Stone reporter Cheyenne Roundtree, Blackman has been removed from Horizon and another Netflix original series called Orbital.

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

While it doesn’t seem impossible that the Horizon series could be revived with a different creative team, Roundtree describes this as “no longer moving forward.”

The question of what makes a TV series and what makes a movie seems rather arbitrary, and one might have thought that Horizon’s post-apocalyptic world of giant robot animals would require a much bigger budget and more expensive special effects than a modern series could offer.

That may explain the decision, however, as it’s likely easier for Sony Pictures to share costs with a TV provider than to strike a more complex deal with another movie studio.

After Gran Turismo, the next PlayStation property to get a movie will be Ghost Of Tsushima, but it remains to be seen whether Horizon will make the cut.

It’s almost certain that Sony will try again with a Horizon adaptation, as they’ve been promoting the franchise a lot lately. A spin-off was the only first-party title released for the PlayStation VR2, and a Lego game is planned for this year, which will also appear on Nintendo Switch.

The announcement of a third main game is also not far away, while long-standing rumors point to a multiplayer spin-off, and perhaps an MMO as well.

While the games have been a huge success, they suffer from a rather lukewarm narrative, especially after the death of Lance Reddick, who played Sylens. In this sense, a live-action adaptation could be a great benefit to the series, if it can improve the narrative side of things.

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