Kevin Costner’s dream of over twenty years finally came to fruition earlier this week as his magnum opus Horizon: An American Saga released its first chapter. However, the response seemed to be lackluster as the $100 million film had a disastrous opening of only $11 million.
Costner’s co-star Michael Rooker, however, came to the film’s defense and urged audiences to give a chance to ‘real cinema’. He mentioned that TikTok had made people used to short-form content, thus discouraging them from watching three-hour epics like Horizon.
Michael Rooker Defends Horizon And Urges Audiences to Watch Kevin Costner’s Epic
Kevin Costner’s epic Western Horizon: An American Saga has been over twenty years in the making as the filmmaker dreamed of mounting the project at least since his last directorial Open Range. The Yellowstone star wanted to explore the story of the American expansion in the West during the Civil War.
While the actor found it difficult to find financers to fund his magnum opus, he reportedly decided to fund the film on his own. The $100 million saga has been split into two parts, the first of which was released on June 28 to a lackluster opening. According to THR, the film only had $11 million box office on opening weekend as it competed with Inside Out 2 and A Quiet Place: Day One.
Actor Michael Rooker, who plays Sgt. Major Thomas Riordan in Horizon reportedly blamed the audience who were used to 90-minute films and TikTok for the film’s failure. He said to TMZ,
It’s real cinema, folks. Be prepared. We ain’t used to that s*it. We’re used to 90-minute movies. Everything is 90 minutes. Give me a break. Get over that s*it. Let’s watch a movie that actually tells a story where you learn about the people and grow to like them or hate them. It’s not all fast and cut, cut cut.
The Guardians of the Galaxy star also mentioned that the audiences were ‘TikTok-ified’ and that they had to ‘get over that crap’ and watch real cinema.
Yellowstone Star Kevin Costner Is Unfazed By Horizon’s Failure
Kevin Costner has had one of the most fluctuating careers in Hollywood history. After being part of modern classics, the actor turned director with the Western Dances with Wolves, which won him an Oscar for Best Director. After a string of expensive failures, the Yellowstone star took a huge risk and funded Horizon: An American Saga himself.
While the first chapter was released to a disappointing opening, Costner seems to be unbothered by the numbers and is just happy about the way the film has turned out. He said to EW,
I’ve lived with movies and what happens to them on their opening weekend. If we put so much pressure on that, we’re bound to be disappointed. I’m really happy that Horizon looks like what it’s supposed to look like, and that’s the way it’ll look the rest of its life. And that’s really important to me in this process.
The actor also mentioned that although he would have satisfied his ego with the film’s success, he is still happy about the film. The second chapter is due for release in August while the filmmaker has gone into production of the third chapter in the four-part saga.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter One is currently in cinemas.
