Summary
Kevin Costner’sHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1has finally started to gain traction with its video-on-demand release. The first installment of Costner’s new Western franchise severely underperformed at the summer 2024 box office, which resulted in the direct follow-upsequelHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2to be pulled from its set theatrical release date of August 16.Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1is, however, showing new signs of lifeandcurrently tops VOD rental charts. It seems likeCostner took a page out of hisYellowstonehandbookby banking on his success with at-home audiences.
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1stars Costner as Hayes Ellison during the pre-Civil War United States. The entire planned 4-part movie series is set to take place between 1861 and 1865, just before the start of the U.S. Civil War. The ensemblecast ofHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1includes Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Ella Hunt, Owen Crow Shoe, Tatanka Means, Tom Payne, Abbey Lee, Will Patton, and Giovanni Ribisi.Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1is currently available to rent or purchaseon Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and through several cable services.
Horizon’s Poor Box Office Performance Explained
Even thoughKevin Costner doesn’t appear early on inHorizon-Chapter 1,Horizonwas still Costner’s first directorial effort since 2003’sOpen Rangeand should have theoretically drawn more of a box office presence.Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1had a 50% drop in its worldwide box office on its second weekend. While this alone isn’t bad for a big budget movie, it still needed a less significant decrease to have any chance of saving the film’s box office performance.Horizon - Chapter 1ended up with a worldwide box office total of roughly $33 millionagainst a reported budget of $100 million.
Thehefty 3-hour 1-minute runtime ofHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1may have provided one of the strongest cases for audiences to wait until the film became available to rent and purchase at home. The lackluster box office performance ofHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1isn’t aided by its mixed reviews and 48% Rotten Tomatoes critic score, although its audience score is much higher at 70%. Nevertheless,Horizon - Chapter 1’simmediate VOD popularity is the best possible thing that could have happened to Costner’s budding franchise at this point.
Kevin Costner’s New Western Avoided A Horrible Box Office Record Despite $25 Million Performance
Horizon: An American Saga hasn’t been a box office hit, but it still avoided breaking a horrible record for Kevin Costner from 27 years ago.
Horizon’s VOD Success Is Good For The Movie - But Probably Won’t Be Enough
Costner has dug himself a big hole that will be hard to climb out of
The recent VOD success ofHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1is certainly a promising sign, but may not have too much of a lasting effect on what appears to be Costner’s doomed franchise. Considering that Costner has already produced, funded, and set a release date for Horizon’s immediate sequel, and is also struggling to raise funds for his anticipatedHorizon - Chapters 3 & 4, the box office woes ofHorizon - Chapter 1create an incredibly unusual circumstance for him and his once-promising franchise.Any sound investor will not be willing to throw money atHorizon’sfuture installmentseven with Costner’s acclaim and status.
Now that the firstHorizonhas made a swift move to a VOD release, it may be the lifeline that the franchise needs in order to draw fans to theaters in August, but it also may not be nearly enough to salvage the franchise. SinceHorizon - Chapter 2was pulled from theaters as a successful method of damage control, there’s still time for the first film to gain momentum, although that’s a tough thing to bank an entire 4-part movie series on.Costner may use his VOD success to work out an exclusive streaming deal with Paramount and CBSas they may be the only way he can keep his initial franchise plan intact.
Kevin Costner’s Risky Horizon Saga Plan Flipped Quentin Tarantino’s Genius Kill Bill Trick
Kevin Costner put all the backstory in the first Horizon: An American Saga with all the action in the sequel, flipping the plot outline for Kill Bill.
What’s Going To Happen With Horizon 2, 3 & 4?
Horizon 2 is still likely to be released in some capacity
Horizon3 and 4 have not even started production yet, which could turn out to save Costner from essentially setting more of his own money on fire. Costner will likely find a way to release Horizon 2 in time, although it’s rather embarrassing to have to pull its theatrical release due to the original film’s box office failure. Regardless,Kevin Costner is still Kevin Costner, an Academy Award and Primetime Emmy winner, and the face of one of the most celebrated series currently on television, whether he’s in it or not. Costner may have to compromise on his original vision of hisHorizon: An American Sagaseries, butHorizon 2is sure to come out one way or another.
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1
Cast
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 is set in 1859, following families as they settle in territories from Wyoming to Kansas. The narrative centers around a cowboy on the run with a prostitute and a young boy after a deadly confrontation, exploring the challenges of life in the Old West.
