Steve Blackman, creator of the Umbrella Academy, and his production company, Irish Cowboy, have inked a multiyear contract with Netflix that involves adapting the open-world action-adventure game Horizon: Zero Dawn for television. The new contract also secures Blackman a role in Orbital, a thriller event series based on the International Space Station.
Horizon: Zero Dawn takes place in a dystopian future in which technological progress nearly exterminated humanity. However, humanity is resilient, and new human communities have emerged throughout the game’s world.
However, because past wisdom was lost, modern societies have reverted to more primitive, tribal forms of organisation and behaviour. Simultaneously, dangerous robots in the form of gigantic beasts wander the earth, killing anybody who comes too close. In the first game in the series, players meet Aloy, a courageous warrior who, separated from her tribe, seeks to unearth the mysteries of humanity’s history. While the game’s gameplay and monster design earned high marks, what really made Horizon: Zero Dawn stand out and become a fan favourite was its fresh take on the post-apocalyptic genre, which would work well as a television series. Now that Netflix has announced they would be streaming the game on television, the anticipation is building.
And it’s even more thrilling since Blackman is on board, having transformed the comic book series The Umbrella Academy into an even better TV show. Writers David and Keith Lynch came up with the idea for Orbital, and they, together with Steve Blackman, will be the show’s creators. Very little is known about this show other than the fact that it is a thriller set on the world’s most well-known space station. Blackman made the following remarks on the agreement: Irish Cowboy products are known for their high quality and attention to detail, and both “Horizon: Zero Dawn” and “Orbital” are excellent examples of this. It’s a dream come true to collaborate with Netflix and the rest of our partners on creating such innovative content.
The executive producers of the Horizon: Zero Dawn TV programme include Blackman, Michelle Lovretta, and Abbey Morris; Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan of PlayStation Productions; Jan-Bart van Beek and Ben McCaw of game developer Guerrilla; and Roy Lee and Matthew Ball of Vertigo. Blackman, Morris, The Lynch Brothers, Dan Lin, Nick Reynolds, and Jonathan Eirich serve as executive producers for Orbital, with Ed Barratt and Richard Wylie serving as co-executive producers. Release dates for Horizon: Zero Dawn and Orbital have not been set as both games are still in the early phases of development.