Kevin Costner is ready to return to the director’s chair with the epic Western Horizon. Split into two parts, the saga is reportedly set before and after the events of the American Civil War. After over twenty years, the film sees the Oscar-award-winning filmmaker returning as a director. His last film as a director was Open Range.
Costner’s epic saga has been years in the making and has been the subject of controversy due to the actor’s departure from Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone to work on the film. However, one element of the two-part movie might work against the film’s success. According to a new report, the film’s first chapter has a runtime of three hours.
Kevin Costner’s Epic Horizon Has A Three-Hour Runtime
Actor Kevin Costner’s epic Western Horizon: An American Saga is all set to see the light of day. The film has been a passion project for the actor since the ‘80s and he reportedly tried to commission it twice already. The epic film is set before and after the American Civil War and during the great expansion of the West.
The film sees Costner explore the Western genre again after starring in Yellowstone and reviving the genre with his Oscar-winning film Dances with Wolves. The latter also won him a Best Director Oscar and he has since been waiting to mount his epic passion project. However, the new report about Horizon may raise doubts about its success.
According to Deadline, the first chapter of Horizon has clocked in a runtime of three hours. While lately, blockbuster films such as The Batman and Dune: Part Two have pushed their runtimes depending on the filmmaker and have proven to be successful, a below two-hour runtime still seems to be the industry runtime.
An industry insider reportedly mentioned to Deadline that the film would either get an opening of $5 million film or $100 million. Fans have also expressed their disappointment at the runtime as many seem to have lost the patience to sit through a three-hour drama.
Rooting for him but this will flop, I’m afraid. There’s been zero marketing.
— Martin (@martinrojasrem) May 1, 2024
“Chapter 1” in the title… This is going to flop horribly. Nobody likes a movie where they already know ahead of time that the story isn’t complete. Costner doesn’t have the social capital to get ppl to invest
— Ballistic (@terribleMirrors) May 1, 2024
Holy shit..what a gamble! Hoping it pays off. 🤞🏻🤞🏻
— MarcyMultiVersus (@hisdarkmateria) May 1, 2024
Definitely streaming that one lol
— ManicMellie (@WyandotteWitch) May 1, 2024
— Ludo Bagman (@LudoBags) May 1, 2024
While originals such as Oppenheimer have proved to be successful, earning over $974 million at the box office and winning multiple Oscars, Horizon still needs to prove that it will be a worthwhile investment.
Kevin Costner Left Yellowstone To Work On Horizon: An American Saga
Kevin Costner has been trying to make Horizon: An American Saga since 1988 and has reportedly planned out two more parts after the release of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. Though the actor will be returning to the Western genre as a filmmaker after over twenty years, he has not been disconnected from the genre at all.
Costner played the lead role of John Dutton in Taylor Sheridan’s neo-Western drama Yellowstone. The actor reportedly left after the show’s fifth season to commit himself fully to his passion project. Costner has reportedly funded the film on his own and even sold some of his property to fund the film (via Deadline). He said,
“I’ve mortgaged 10 acres on the water in Santa Barbara where I was going to build my last house. But I did it without a thought. It has thrown my accountant into a f*cking conniption fit. But it’s my life, and I believe in the idea and the story.”
Kevin Costner and Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan have been beefing due to his decision to leave. According to Esquire, the Open Range actor asked for a week of filming for the final season of Yellowstone but was instead asked to leave by Paramount. Sheridan and Costner then reportedly feuded over how they would end the character of John Dutton.
Yellowstone is streaming on the Paramount Network.
