“They didn’t give me a buck”: Kevin Costner Returning Empty-handed From Cannes Despite Horizon: An American Saga’s Standing Ovation May Be Pointing to an Ugly Truth

Kevin Costner is an Oscar-winning actor with a diverse filmography. From romances to action movies to serious dramas, he has dipped his toes in every pool, and come out successful. For the last few years, he has garnered a lot of acclaim for his role as John Dutton in the Taylor Sheridan-created hit series, Yellowstone. But after the first part of the fifth and final season came out last year, things have taken a turn.

Coster allegedly left the show after multiple delays in shooting. He blamed Sheridan and Paramount for focusing more on other projects rather than Yellowstone, which made it seem as if his time wasn’t valued. And now, he is all set to release two back-to-back movies from his four-part Western. Horizon: An American Saga is Costner’s dream project which he has been trying to make since 1988. And now, after so many years, he has finally taken the steps to fulfill his dream.

Kevin Costner’s Cannes Dreams Were a Bust

When Kevin Costner went to the Cannes Film Festival this year, it was with the hope that his long-awaited dream will come to fruition. Horizon: An American Saga is a four-part Western Costner has been trying to make for ages. But because of lack of funding, time, tight schedules, and whatnot, it was only recently that he began to bring his vision to life.

Unfortunately for Costner, it has not been an easy road. The series has not gotten any funding from outside sources, and Costner had to pool his own resources to make the first two, out of the four movies made. While the first movie in the series got an 11-minute standing ovation at Cannes, it was still unable to secure any funding. Talking about it on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, Costner said:

They didn’t give me a buck… I could have used a lot of money… I went there because, you know, a very American movie. I raised some money overseas. So I thought I would let my foreign partner see it.

Thus, securing funding for the project wasn’t easy. And his Cannes outing wasn’t successful like he had hoped it would be. The Western genre is rare these days, with very few successful projects, perhaps barring Taylor Sheridan‘s Yellowstone universe. And with Costner having left that before the show could end, he doesn’t even have that to fall back on anymore.

Kevin Costner Is Desperate to Secure The Future of Horizon

With his unsuccessful Cannes outing, things are not looking too great for Kevin Costner. While he is no doubt an exceptional filmmaker and actor, maybe it is time he accepts the fact that the movie he is trying to make is not what the audiences want to watch. That could possibly be the biggest reason for him not being able to secure funding, even though this is what he desperately wants to have to his name.

I don’t know why it was so hard to get people to believe in the movie that I wanted to make… You know, I don’t think my movie is better than anybody else’s movie, but I don’t think anybody else’s movie is better than mine. I don’t go out into the world with something I don’t think is good.

Saying that he tried every possible way to secure funding, Costner joked (via Variety) that he knocked on every billionaire’s boat, but was unsuccessful in his endeavor.

I’ve knocked on every boat in Cannes to help me. ‘Oh come, we’ll have a picture.’ No, come get your checkbook out. Let’s talk money!

Whether he can secure funding for his next two projects, or ends up having to use his own resources to get them made, or has to drop the project altogether, will probably depend on how well the first two movies do in theaters. While this is legacy in a way, Costner’s idea for this epic Western might be too much for the viewers, with it being four parts long.

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 will be released on June 28, 2024. Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 will be released on August 16, 2024.