The ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ Netflix show has reportedly been cancelled.
Last week (30.06.24), Rolling Stone claimed ‘Umbrella Academy’ producer Steven Blackman - who was working on the TV adaptation of the beloved action role-playing-game - created an abusive workplace though his “toxic, bullying, manipulative, and retaliatory behaviour”, and now it’s been reported both of his Netflix projects, the ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ series and another show called ‘Orbital’, have been shelved.
Cheyenne Roundtree - a journalist at the publication who covered the original Blackman story - took to X and wrote: “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 (sic).”
After the first report detailing Blackman's supposed abusive behaviour released, a representative for the producer told Rolling Stone he has “a long, ongoing, and close working relationship with Netflix” and insisted he “continues to work on new projects”.
They also claimed he had “signed a new multi-year deal earlier this year”.
When Sony announced the TV show in 2022 - which was said to be simply titled ‘Horizon’ - Blackman gushed about the game, and praised developer Guerrilla Games for creating an “incredibly lush and vivid” world to explore.
He told Tudum: “‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ is an exceptionally well-crafted game with wonderful characters not often seen in the rank-and-file of the gaming world.
“Guerrilla Games has created an incredibly lush and vivid world of man and machine who find themselves on a collision course to oblivion.
“Their salvation comes in the form of a young female warrior named Aloy, who has no idea she’s the key to saving the world. Suffice it to say, yes, Aloy will be a main character in our story.
“My writing partner on this, Michelle Lovretta, and I are thrilled to be able to expand this remarkable I.P. into a series for all types of viewers.”