Last month, we reported that the first Horizon: An American Saga movie had flopped at the box office. Kevin Costner, who is both directing and starring in the planned four-part western film series, had reportedly put in tens of millions of his own dollars, aiming for this to be his career masterpiece.
Now, he’s speaking out to address the failure of the first film.
Costner Speaks Out
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter One made only $32 million on a $100 million budget. This came after Costner spent $38 million of his own money on the movie. Costner, however, claims to not be fazed by this.
“I’ve faced life with people being dismissive of me,” Costner, 69, told E! News. “But they can’t be dismissive of ‘Horizon,’ because now it’s out of their hands.”
“And they might point to the finish line—well, this is what it did at the box office—but I know that this movie is going to play for the next 50 years,” he continued. “There’s a moment in time where you want [your children] to see this movie. To understand that this is what their [ancestors] went through. It’s not just a western, it’s a history of migration and what they had to do to survive. And I’m really proud of it.”
That’s a very interesting comment. Is Costner aiming to make Horizon a “cult” hit?
Critics Slammed First Horizon Movie
Unfortunately for Costner, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter One also bombed with the critics.
“I could not fathom committing another 540 minutes of my time to this bloated ego trip,” wrote the film critic for The New York Post. “It’s hard to believe Costner left Yellowstone to make such an embarrassing, poorly told mess.”
“There are more than 20 named roles scattered all over the place — the San Pedro Valley, the Montana Territory, the Western Santa Fe Trail — and viewers strain to care much for any of them, so bland and animatronic they all are,” he added.
Despite this, Costner is trying to stay positive. He’s relieved that Chapter Two of Horizon has been given a premiere date at the Venice Film Festival of September 7.
“That was a nice development over there,” Costner said. “They understand that it’s a saga.”
“That part is exactly how I imagined it,” he continued. “I didn’t ever imagine [the releases] six weeks apart, it was always four months, or six months. But the studio saw an opportunity, they thought it could be something. I don’t feel that anymore.”
Related: Kevin Costner Hit With Crushing Blow As Horizon 2 Release Is Canceled After First Film Flops
Costner Doubles Down
Costner went on to continue to defend Horizon.
“I don’t really fall out of love with something I feel strongly about. Until somebody convinces me otherwise it needs to go in another direction, that doesn’t happen,” he stated. “I feel like my job is to bring something original to people. And it’s really hard to make a good western.”
That is undoubtedly true. Of course, Costner’s Dances With Wolves is universally regarded as excellent. However, his westernish sci-fi dystopia The Postman is still derided as garbage!
Costner previously addressed speculation that he left the hugely successful television show Yellowstone to make Horizon.
“Horizon didn’t cause problems for me,” he said back in June. “I wanted to work more than once a year, and it was important that I made room for ‘Yellowstone’ and made room for ‘Horizon,’ but we just — people ran through deadlines, they were busy, they had a lot to do. But ‘Horizon’ was secondary to ‘Yellowstone.’ “
“But it still had to line up,” Costner added. “I had 400 people waiting for me, so I did things in a very limited amount of time.”
This has clearly not been the easiest of times for Costner. We can only hope that Chapter Two of Horizon is more successful than the first movie was!
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