Gamers, prepare yourselves for the moment everyone has been waiting for, the news of the Horizon Zero Dawn movie. It is not a rumor anymore, but the live-action version of the game has been confirmed by Sony Pictures and the shooting will commence in the year 2026 with an anticipated release in the year 2027. The date is one that is still far away, but at least we now have certain dates to circle on the calendar. This is a great big news to those who have been into the character of Aloy and killing those robot dinosaurs for countless hours.
So what is the real deal with this movie? It is indeed a realistic scenario that the film is being handled by Sony Pictures since the game franchise is owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The project that was initially in development for a long time has now divulged specific scheduling information. Besides, the movie will likely enact the storyline of the first Horizon game, where the protagonist is a discriminated girl who uncovers the riddles of her territory while battling.
However, the matter is now more complex – from the online players’ reactions, it is easy to find a mixture of opinion confronting this undertaking. On one side, there are overly-excited gamers like the user Mystifizor who stated in a very straightforward and blunt manner “I want it. Horizon rules.” On the other side, user Cadreinth echoed “It’s great.” Nevertheless, there are skeptics who are careful with their expectations. User lingogo77 even dared to forecast that “this is going to bomb so badly like borderlands movie” while nanomachine_64 was even more concise in saying “This will flop.” Ouch!
Among the hottest issues being debated in the comments area is the question of what tale should the movie actually narrate. User adamc_vp made a really interesting point: “I really wish they’d stay away from Aloys story and instead do a Zero Day story with the same kind of tone as Halo Reach, we know how it ends yet still get drawn in by it and the ending still hits like a truck.” This indeed is a strong argument – narrating the destruction that the world of Horizon came from could be way more engaging than just retelling the game’s plotline.
The budget was also part of the discussion but it was a heated and intense one. Mitchell Bennett and Mitch could not agree on the amount this movie should cost with Mitch taking the position that “Only the most expensive films should be Avengers and Avatar movies” and calling spending over $300 million on new projects “pure insanity.” Mitchell replied with saying that the budget “can go south REAL fast if you’re not careful” since the CGI for those robotic creatures can be really expensive. And he is right – it is certainly not going to be an inexpensive task to make those Tallnecks and Thunderjaws look real on screen.
Wait a minute, what was my point again? Oh right, the CGI. This is probably the biggest challenge this film has to overcome. The Horizon world is full of fantastic mechanical beasts, and if they are poorly made or their presence is not convincing at all, it will be a disaster. User Rambling on Deck joked that “One year to edit and condense the cutscenes” would be necessary which… okay, that actually sounds quite funny.
Casting will be another major source of contention. User itsMarioAR suggested “Sadie Sink for Aloy?!” which honestly is not a bad suggestion at all. But the matter is that – we are still clueless on who the actors will be. User CR Blxcky even directly queried “They announced the cast?” and the answer is… no. Not yet. This is somewhat odd when you consider it – they have a filming schedule but no cast announced? User ErikInCt_ pointed out how peculiar that is, saying “Announcing filming timing before hiring a director and casting is … something.”
There are also some misunderstandings about whether this film is competing with other video game adaptations. FrozenApes wondered if it’s “To compete with Zelda movie perhaps?” to which DamienB clarified that “the zelda movie is made by sony” so… wait, Sony’s rivaling with itself? That just adds to the confusion.
Furthermore, the question of whether Horizon has reached “flagship” status for PlayStation still remains open. User Stuhlinger96 plainly asked “So is horizon a considered a flagship title now for PlayStation” and frankly, with over 40 million copies sold just for two mainline games (as Cadreinth noted), it is very difficult to argue the point that it is not.
What’s the next step? The filming and release timetables have been decided, but there are still a lot of unresolved issues. Who is the director? Who is Aloy? How much is the budget going to be? How are they going to manage all this CGI? We do not yet have any answers. However, what is certain is that the kingdom of Aloy will finally appear on the big screen in 2027. If it is a good or bad experience… well, we will just have to wait and see. The pressure is on Sony to do this right since the fans plus the Horizon community are very dedicated and will not hesitate to denounce a poorly made adaptation. Let’s hope they don’t let us down.
