The first installment of Kevin Costner’s Western saga “Horizon” has had a catastrophic start. The filmmaker has a lot at stake.
Has Kevin Costner’s, 69, four-part Western saga “Horizon” failed on its first weekend? The first part earned just under eleven million dollars in the USA upon release. This amount falls far short for a film that is reported to have cost between 50 and 100 million dollars. The industry magazine “Variety” describes the result as “catastrophic.” “Horizon: An American Saga – Part 1” will only premiere in German cinemas on August 22, 2024.
Especially bitter for Kevin Costner: “Horizon” is his long-cherished passion project. He directed, starred in, and wrote the screenplay for the film. Reportedly, he first conceived the epic in 1988. Two years later, Costner made his directorial debut with “Dances with Wolves,” another large-scale Western that won seven Oscars. Despite this success, Costner struggled for a long time to finance “Horizon.”
Kevin Costner reportedly contributed 38 million dollars of his own money to “Horizon”
In 2022, Kevin Costner finally began filming “Horizon.” His career had been revitalized by “Yellowstone,” which became one of the most-watched TV series in the USA. The Costner name was once again a draw, or so Warner Bros. investors believed.
Nevertheless, the actor had to put up his own money. Kevin Costner reportedly contributed 38 million dollars of his own funds. To do so, he mortgaged a 40,500 square meter property in Santa Barbara. Allegedly, conflicts arose with the makers of “Yellowstone” as Costner was often absent during filming to focus on “Horizon.” Despite denying that “Horizon” was the cause of the rift, Costner is not part of the second half of the fifth and final season of “Yellowstone.”
The second part of “Horizon” has already been filmed and is set to release in the USA on August 16, 2024 (in Germany in November). Filming for the last two films is scheduled to begin later this year.
