Amidst all the drama surrounding Kevin Costner and Yellowstone, one name that’s often thrown around is Costner’s passion project, Horizon. Fans are not happy about this two-part Western Saga, especially after how the Yellowstone finale is currently playing out, but it’s too soon to judge this project harshly. Costner has proven himself capable of handling a Western project as a director and actor with his 1990 Oscar-winning film Dances With Wolves.
Interestingly, the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves actor was so confident in his project that he was unwilling to change a thing about it despite three directors rejecting it. It paid off heavily as the film became the fourth highest-grossing film of 1990 along with its seven Oscar wins.
Kevin Costner’s Relentless Commitment Resulted In The Success Of His Western Drama
When Kevin Costner approached multiple directors with his script for Dances with Wolves, he was received with skepticism and negativity. Many directors compared his project to the 1980 film Heaven’s Gate, a Western project that earned a bad rap due to its poor execution. Costner shared in an interview with Deadline that these people called his project ‘Kevin’s Gate’.
Costner shared that he had put all his money into Dances with Wolves, before setting out to find a director. He revealed that he asked three directors to helm the film before stepping into the shoes himself. Costner shared with Deadline:
“I know when I was making Dances with Wolves, they were calling it ‘Kevin’s Gate,’ even though they didn’t know that I put all my money into this thing. I actually asked three other directors to direct it before me.”
Costner further added that each director had their own vision of the movie and wanted to remove certain aspects from the film. One director asked him to get rid of the Civil War sequence in the film, while another pointed out that the White ethnic girl was a cliché in the film. The JFK actor didn’t want to compromise on his story and leave anything out of it. He shared:
“They each had kind of very pronounced ideas about what they wouldn’t leave in the movie. They’re very well-known directors. One said I should get rid of the Civil War sequence and start with them out there in the middle of nowhere. Another said, ‘The white girl, it’s a cliché.’ Well, it wasn’t a cliché. In the West, slaves were traded. They were very valuable in the commerce of the West. I finally directed it by default. What I knew was, I wasn’t as good as any of those other directors. But I wasn’t gonna leave anything out.”
According to Box Office Mojo, Costner’s film earned $424.2 million at the worldwide box office against a $22 million budget. The film won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Costner, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and Best Sound Mixing.
Kevin Costner’s Efforts Will Be Even Higher For The Film He Has Been Planning Since 1988
It has been more than three and a half decades since Kevin Costner commissioned the idea for Horizon: An American Saga. He approached numerous studios to make the grand-scale Western film. However, the film was greenlit only in January 2022, with Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema joining the production (via Deadline).
Given the time and effort invested by the Man of Steel actor into this project, many expect that it will achieve a bigger success for him as a director than Dances with Wolves. Costner’s dream project will also star Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Michael Rooker, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Thomas Haden Church. It will premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2024.
Dances with Wolves is now available for streaming on MGM+. Horizon: Chapter 1 will be released in theaters on June 28, 2024, while Chapter 2 will be released on August 16, 2024.
