It’s being reported that the Horizon: Zero Dawn series, which is in development at Netflix, is no longer happening. This follows allegations concerning its showrunner, but is not connected to them.
Horizon: Zero Dawn is one of two casualties for showrunner
The original series Orbital was also affected, which was part of the same initial deal as the Horizon show, which was announced in August of 2022. The Horizon show was previously confirmed to include protagonist Aloy from the Guerilla Games PlayStation video game hit.
The latest report comes from sources close to Rolling Stone. Senior Reporter Cheyenne Roundtree took to social media to reveal this latest scoop. There’s no clarification at present on whether the shows will still be made without Blackman or simply shelved in their entirety.
”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.”
In a previous report by Rolling Stone, Umbrella Academy showrunner Steve Blackman was accused of toxic, bullying, manipulative, and retaliatory behavior.
In a statement concerning any links between previous accusations and the cancellation of these projects, a spokesperson for Steve Blackman said,
‘Steve Blackman has a long, ongoing, and close working relationship with Netflix, and signed a new multi-year deal earlier this year. He continues to work on new projects as well as the launch of the fourth season of the Umbrella Academy. It is preposterous and irresponsible to even suggest that there could be any impact of false and absurd allegations against Steve on the status of these projects, in a year with historic writers’ and actors’ strikes and dozens and dozens of project cancellations.’
Horizon Zero Dawn follows Aloy, a young outcast who sets out to unravel the mysteries behind her post-apocalyptic world. It’s a world of robotic beasts and strange technology. The first game was released for the PS4 in 2017. Thereafter, its sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, was released for the PS4 and PS5 in 2022. A PSVR 2 spinoff was released in 2023, and a Lego take on the series is coming this year.
