During CES 2025, Asad Qizilbash, the head of PlayStation Productions, announced that Columbia Pictures and PlayStation Productions are in the "early stages" of a movie adaptation of Horizon Zero Dawn.
"Just imagine Aloy's beloved origin story, set in a vibrant far-future world, filled with giant machines brought to you for the first time on the big screen," Qizilbash teased.
Unfortunately, no other details were offered, and seeing as how the adaptation is still early on in development, it may be quite some time before we learn more.
Released in 2017, Horizon Zero Dawn is an action role-playing game developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for PlayStation. Set in the distant, post-apocalyptic future in a world overrun by machines, the story follows Aloy (voiced by Ashly Burch), a young hunter who sets out to uncover her past. While we don't have plot details for the movie, Qizilbash did suggest it could tell her origin story, which would basically adapt the game:
In a far future where colossal machines roam and rule the Earth, pockets of humanity survive in unique tribes among the lush, overgrown ruins of our long-lost civilization.
Take up bow and spear as Aloy, a young machine hunter and outcast of her tribe, as she discovers her origins, the truth of this mysterious world, and her own destiny to save it from impending doom.
Horizon Zero Dawn was praised for its open-world exploration, combat mechanics, story and characters. Its critical and commercial success led to an expansion, The Frozen Wilds, and eventually a full-fledged sequel, Horizon Forbidden, which was released in 2022. Horizon Forbidden West follows Aloy as she ventures into the Western United States in search of the source of a mysterious plague.
The land is dying. Vicious storms and an unstoppable blight ravage the scattered remnants of humanity, while fearsome new machines prowl their borders. Life on Earth is hurtling towards another extinction, and no one knows why.
It's up to Aloy to uncover the secrets behind these threats and restore order and balance to the world.
In addition to the sequel, Guerilla Games, Studio Gobo and The LEGO Group also recently released a spin-off, LEGO Horizon Adventures, that offers a "playful and light-hearted" take on the first game's story.
Sony has been trying for some time now to get an adaptation of Horizon Zero Dawn off the ground. Netflix was previously developing a series based on the game with The Umbrella Academy showrunner Steve Blackman attached to the project.
However, last July there were reports that the project was no longer moving forward. We never did get any sort of official announcement, although there were reports of alleged "toxic, bullying, manipulative, and retaliatory behavior" by Blackman. According to a report from Rolling Stone, staffers and an HR complaint accused Blackman of fostering a hostile workplace, which he refuted and called "entirely untrue" and "completely absurd."
In any case, we'll still be getting an adaptation, just now it will be in the form of a feature-length film.