They can't all be hugely popular post-apocalyptic video games turned into prestige TV shows. According to Rolling Stone reporter Cheyenne Roundtree, Netflix won't be moving forward with its planned live-action adaptation of Horizon: Zero Dawn, about a woman named Aloy who navigates a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by robotic dinosaurs. Sounds worth a look, right?
This isn't just Netflix canceling things for the sake of canceling things, one of their favorite hobbies. It reportedly has to do with producer Steve Blackman, the guy behind the Horizon: Zero Dawn show. Blackman is also the showrunner over on Netflix's superhero dramady The Umbrella Academy, and has come under fire recently for creating a toxic work environment on that show. In broad strokes, he's accused of stealing the work of other writers, making lewd comments, and conspiring to get certain writers fired.
Blackman has denied these allegations as coming from "a handful of disgruntled employees," but apparently it's enough to put Netflix on edge. Per Rountree, the streamer has also pulled the plug on an original series he was working on, Orbital.
This won't stop video games from taking over Hollywood
Horizon: Zero Dawn is one of many video game-to-TV projects either on the air or in development. In terms of shows that are already on, we've got stuff like The Last of Us, Halo, Arcane, Fallout, a couple of Sonic the Hedgehog shows, and The Witcher if you squint. There's plenty in development, too, including shows based on Tomb Raider, Alan Wake and God of War. And we're not even touching video game movies; did you know that The Super Mario Bros. Movie made over a billion dollars last year at the box office?
So video game adaptations aren't going anywhere, and may well be the hot Hollywood trend we'll be riding for awhile. I wouldn't be surprised if the Horizon show eventually came back in some form or another. But for now, the Netflix series sounds stalled.
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