Kevin Costner has been a very committed actor who continues to give his all with every film he does. His breakout role in The Untouchables led him to many acclaimed performances in films like Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, and A Perfect World among others. He has also established himself as a great filmmaker directing two impressive westerns Dances With Wolves and Open Range.
Costner has been dreaming about his passion project Horizon: An American Saga since the 90s, envisioning it as a four-film saga. Costner has already shot the first two films and recently premiered the first film at Cannes. Unfortunately, it received mediocre reviews which put into question the fate of the remaining three films, in addition to the actor/director finding problems filming parts 3 and 4.
Did Kevin Costner Make a Mistake By Making Horizon a Four-Film Epic?
Kevin Costner has an interesting eye as a director, especially in the Western genre as Dances With Wolves and Open Range proved to be great additions to the genre with his own signature style. The actor/director is back with arguably his biggest project to date Horizon: An American Saga, a passion project that he has environed in a four-film arc.
Costner has been open about how he has been dreaming about the film for decades and planned to shoot it between shooting Yellowstone season 5. The actor even put his own money into the project and has completed shooting two of the four planned films (via GQ). The first film recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival where it received a 7-minute standing ovation.
However as the official reviews started coming out, it received very poor reviews. Outlets like Time, The Hollywood Reporter, and IGN have criticized the convoluted plot, the overlong 3-hour runtime, and the unsatisfying narrative, that merely serves as set up for the second film (via Rotten Tomatoes). With an underwhelming rating of 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, it has put into question if Costner’s ambitious risk with the project was worth it.
While the two films have been scheduled to be released this year, Costner has stated that he does not have the required budget yet to shoot the remaining two parts. With new reports that production on those films has been delayed (via World of Reel), it will certainly be a difficult road for the actor to make those. The majority of it will also depend on the reception and box office performance of the first two films.
Kevin Costner Does Not Want Audiences Waiting For Too Long For Horizon Sequels
Kevin Costner has his first two Horizon sequels ready for release and he’s working hard to get parts 3 and 4 in production. Costner has been dreaming of delivering this passion project to fans and does not want them to have too much of a gap between the films. In an interview with Indiewire, the actor stated that he wants to keep making them continuously.
Costner does not want audiences to wait as long as 2-3 years for a sequel. While most would wait for the previous film’s commercial performance to make the next film, he does not believe in that and delivers his passion project one by one in quick succession. The actor told Indiewire,
For me, as a feature, I didn’t want people to wait two or three years for a sequel that I was inventing. And so I just want to keep making them. Regardless of ‘Well, let’s watch the economics and see how we do.’ That’s prudent, but not to me.
Chapter 1 of Horizon: An American Saga stars Costner as the lead with Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Giovanni Ribisi, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Will Patton, and many others. Chapters 1 and 2 will be released in theatres on June 28, 2024, and August 16, 2024.
