Kevin Costner has been reeling in from the failure of his magnum opus Horizon: An American Saga. The first chapter of the two-part saga reportedly fell short of expectations and bombed at the box office. The second chapter was pulled from its release date and postponed indefinitely.
While Costner has not commented on its failure, the actor seems to be ready to shoot the third chapter of the saga. However, the one regret that the actor seemed to have in his filmography is when his other Western Wyatt Earp bombed at the box office. He said that he regretted the timing of the release, as it came out six months after Val Kilmer’s Tombstone.
Kevin Costner’s Costly Regret Involved Val Kilmer’s Epic Western
In December 1993, Val Kilmer, Kurt Russell, and Sam Elliott starred in the cult classic Western film Tombstone. The film was based on several real-life events including the infamous OK Corral Gunfight of 1881. Kilmer’s performance as Doc Holliday was appreciated and lauded among critics and is considered one of his best to date.
However, the film also preceded Kevin Costner’s upcoming Western Wyatt Earp, based on the same incident, and the lawman Wyatt Earp, who Russell played in Tombstone. Costner’s film was released six months after Tombstone and was reportedly a box office bomb. It earned a meager $56 million against a $63 million budget (via LA Times).
Costner mentioned that he regretted the timing of the release and hated that there was competition between the two. He said to GQ,
I love Wyatt, or I just love that movie. We got into a level of competition with Tombstone. A good friend said, ‘Look, we can postpone this movie. We don’t wanna compete.’ … I said, ‘I’m sure this writer, director wants to make this movie, let them.’ And then this kind of space race started. And I always regretted that there was this kind of weird competition. It was a fun movie, Tombstone, but it’s too bad it went the way it went.
This seemed to have cost Costner greatly as he was also a producer on the project. Tombstone on the other hand earned $73 million against a $25 million budget (via The Numbers).
Kevin Costner’s Horizon Faces Release Obstacles After A Poor Box Office Performance
While Kevin Costner has seen his fair share of box office failure (The Postman, Waterworld), the actor’s magnum opus Horizon: An American Saga garnered all the press due to the filmmaker’s grand vision and self-financing. However, the first chapter of the saga, which was released in June failed to meet expectations and was a box office bomb.
While the second chapter was due for release in August, New Line Cinema seems to have changed their plans and reportedly pulled the release of Horizon. In a statement to the press (via THR), they said,
Territory Pictures and New Line Cinema have decided not to release Horizon: Chapter 2 on August 16 in order to give audiences a greater opportunity to discover the first installment of Horizon over the coming weeks, including on PVOD and Max. We thank our exhibition partners for their continued support as moviegoers across the U.S. discover the film in its theatrical run.
The film reportedly only earned $32 million against a $50 million budget for the first chapter (via The Numbers). However, Costner was still ready to film the third chapter in his ambitious saga despite the failures.
Wyatt Earp and Tombstone are available to stream on Apple TV.
