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In 2022, Netflix and Sony set up a series adaptation of the Horizon video games from The Umbrella Academy showrunner Steve Blackman. But in the wake of workplace misconduct allegations against Blackman for his conduct on The Umbrella Academy, Horizon may no longer be happening at Netflix.
Rolling Stone, the outlet that broke the story about Blackman’s alleged misconduct, is reporting that Horizon and Blackman’s other upcoming sci-fi series, Orbital, are “no longer moving forward.” The report doesn’t specify whether the shows will continue without Blackman or if both projects are dead in the water.
One of Blackman’s representatives responded to the report by noting that the showrunner “has a long, ongoing, and close working relationship with Netflix [and] continues to work on new projects.” Blackman’s representative also noted that he and Netflix had “signed a new multi-year deal earlier this year.”
However, it’s unclear if Netflix will maintain its relationship with Blackman following the report of retaliatory and discriminatory conduct during his four seasons as showrunner of The Umbrella Academy. Many of the accusations against Blackman were made anonymously because of fear of professional reprisal. But The Umbrella Academy Season 4 co-showrunner Jesse McKeown did go on the record about Blackman’s conduct.
“I always sort of carried that around thinking, ‘OK, that was clear retaliation, [but] he would never do that to me,'” recalled McKeown. “It happened to me eventually, and a whole bunch of other people in between.”
Since Sony owns Horizon, it could conceivably take the series adaptation to another streamer if Netflix has passed on it. But for now, we don’t know whether that project still factors into Sony’s future live-action plans.
