Kevin Costner has his epic Horizon film series in his field of dreams and he’s gonna beat that wagon-pulling dead horse if it’s the last thing he does. Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 got bad reviews and bombed at the box office in July. Then Chapter 2 had its August release date pulled, at which point Kevin spun it as what he wanted all along anyway, so that it could have a world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. And so it did last Saturday, out of competition. While there, Kevin reassured the film’s dozens of fans that he’s still dead set on coming out with the as-yet unfilmed Horizon: An American Saga — Chapters 3 and 4. I’ll give him this: it really does feel like a saga.
Thoughts from Sherlock: Kevin Costner spoke on the scrapped theatrical release of his second “Horizon” film on Saturday during its Venice Film Festival press conference, saying that “it probably was a reaction” to the underperformance of the first movie at the box office. “It didn’t have overwhelming success,” Costner said of the first film. “I’ve had a lot of movies that way, that have stood the test of time.”
His desire to continue is only increased: “Sometimes when things don’t come to us easily, we want to just step away. But there’s something in me that only increases my desire when something is not working,” Costner said. “It’s a story, it’s a piece of entertainment that I think can stand the test of time. When I feel rejection, unlike anybody else, when I open my eyes from my disappointment, my desire is only increased.”
Horizon is historical, not political: When asked if “Horizon” contains a lesson for the current state of America as it heads into a presidential election, Costner said “it’s not a message politically to anyone. ‘Horizon’ is not a message to my country, it’s a reminder to my country of how difficult it was that people made this journey,” he said. … The film continues the events of the first chapter in the epic, which is described as a “multi-faceted depiction of the Civil War expansion and settlement of the American West.” In addition to directing and starring, Costner served as a co-writer with Jon Baird (“The Explorers Guild”) and produced through his Territory Pictures.
Thoughts from Sisyphus: “Horizon” is intended as a four-part series, meaning that two more films are in development. Principal photography on “Chapter 3” began in May and is expected to wrap next year. As the press conference wrapped, Costner said all of the “Horizon” films have been written and teased “Chapter 3” as “devastating.” “You get to know all these people, and life keeps coming at them and you will see that,” he said. Of making the third film, Costner said he has to “hurry and not let the rock fall back downhill, I gotta go put my hands on it again and start to push it up.” However, the path ahead for “Horizon” still seems to be uncertain. “I don’t know how I’m going to make ‘Three’ right now,” he said. “But I’m going to make it.”
Kevin Costner has a dream and it will not be trampled on! All he wants is to give us 12 hours of slow-paced storytelling about Civil War-era westward expansion divided into four films to be screened in theaters instead of comfortably streamed at home! So sure, he had to spend $38 million of his own money to make the first installment, and put up the mortgage on his Southern California mansion as collateral. And sure, the movie-going public rendered their verdict by handing the first movie a disappointing $11 million opening weekend (compared to its $100 million budget), prompting the August release of the next movie to be nixed. But does that mean he should read the room, cut his losses and stop? YES NO! Look, it’s always a good message not to let the naysayers deter you. But how much of his own wealth does he plan on throwing at this endeavor? Will he at least budge and let go of the theatrical releases? Because the first film’s numbers improved once it went to VOD. To quote a great film that’s stood the test of time: if you put it right in people’s living rooms, they will come.
Photos credit: Ottavia Da Re / Agenzia Sintesi / Avalon, Maria Laura Antonelli / AGF Foto / Avalon, IPA/INSTARimages
Stubborn old man. It’s all stolen land and by no level of myth making charges that.
I have no interest in these movies….but something on the making of these movies? I’ll pay full price.
Man he must truly have f**k you money. Or he just doesn’t care anymore.
It’s been 30 years, maybe he just had to pull another ‘Waterworld’
“Thoughts from Sisyphus” – I come here for the stories and stay for the writing. Outstanding work as always thank you Kismet.
The DM is going to have to keep those “Sienna Miller’s renaissance” articles coming for a couple more years then.
Lort. Mediocre white male privilege on display. Yawn. If this project was lead by anyone other than a straight white male, the online hate would ruin their career, the follow-ups would be immediately canceled, the initial project would be made impossible to access and written off for tax purposes. This project should have been prestige tv and should have never been considered for theatrical release. How many times can a dull white male bomb epically and come back?
He gots to recast and possible use a better camera. The clips i saw look like a tv show.
To be honest, watching it from home didn’t help. We turned it off after about 40 minutes. It was brutal. And this despite Kevin being my forever crush.