Following the news that Netflix has renewed The Umbrella Academy for a fourth and final season, Deadline has revealed Steve Blackman has boarded the streamer’s adaptation of Horizon Zero Dawn. The news comes as the showrunner has re-upped his big, eight-figure overall deal with the streaming service.
Under the deal, Blackman will write and produce various series for Netflix through his newly launched Irish Cowboy production banner. Two projects that will be developed through this deal will be the ISS drama Orbital, and Horizon Zero Dawn, the adaptation of the popular PlayStation game of the same name. News that Netflix was looking to adapt Zero Dawn was first announced in May, at the time it was believed the project was still very much in early development. With Blackman now involved, that looks like it’ll change within the coming months.
Expressing excitement over both projects, Blackman noted both series are “hallmarks” of what Irish Cowboy Productions looks for in projects. “Horizon Zero Dawn and Orbital are elevated, event-level projects grounded in characters that fans will love and relate to, which are hallmarks of Irish Cowboy productions. We’re thrilled to be working with Netflix and all of our partners on developing these ground-breaking stories.”
Horizon Zero Dawn is based on the popular video game of the same name. It is set a thousand years in the future and follows an outcast named Aloy. The world around her is “strange and beautiful” featuring a mix of primitive lifestyles and high-tech machines. When the high-tech machines, which include Tallnecks, Snapmaws, and Sawtooths, begin to turn into dangerous hunters, Aloy will seek to discover a way to save her world while figuring out the truth of what happened in the past. The series proved to be a best-seller for PlayStation, having sold over 20 million global copies as of last year. The sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, was released earlier this year.
Executive Producers for Horizon Zero Dawn will be Blackman, Michelle Lovretta and Abbey Morris, as well as Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan of PlayStation Productions. They’ll be joined by Jan-Bart van Beek and Ben McCaw of Guerrilla and Roy Lee and Matthew Ball of Vertigo.
Source: Steve Blackman
