Summary
- Kevin Costner's $100 million Western epic Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 is expected to flop with just a $12 million opening.
- The first installment of Horizon: An American Saga is projected to have a dismal start.
- Despite anticipation, tracking suggests Costner's film will underperform at the box office.
The $100 million first installment of Kevin Costner's Western movie epic Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, the first part of a planned four-film epic.
It may make little difference to Costner’s plans for Horizon to span four movies, but the first chapter of the saga is looking like a flop, as the $100-million movie is projected to gross just $12 million in its first weekend of release (via THR). Tracking has Costner’s Western return finishing second behind the horror prequel A Quiet Place: Day One.
What Has Costner Said About Horizon’s Potential Box Office?
Though Warner Bros. is distributing Horizon in the US, Costner largely financed the project himself, saying recently that he has to date sunk $58 million of his own money into his Western movie saga (with much of the rest covered by foreign sales). Speaking to Empire, Costner talked about the risk involved with spending so much of his own cash on the project, but struck a confident note when discussing the film’s prospects of finding an audience over time.
"I understand. I'm not a fool, but I'm not afraid I will own this movie the rest of my life. So will my family. And movies are a lot more than their opening weekend. They have value throughout their life, and I will own this movie throughout my life. And people will find it. And when they do, whether it's opening weekend or not, they're going to find a quality. They're going to find a story that they're going to want to revisit or share with someone. And that's the power of a movie to me.”
It’s possible that Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 will out-perform projections, as WB unleashes more advertising in the weeks leading up to the film’s release, creating more awareness among Costner’s fans. Even if the movie flops, Costner is going ahead with his four-part saga, with Chapter 2 set to arrive on August 16, 2024, and Chapter 3 currently in production (as Costner himself recently confirmed).
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 releases on June 28
Costner has faith that Horizon: An American Saga will find an audience, even if it takes time for that to happen. The reality is that movies are mostly judged by their opening weekends at the box office, and the first chapter of Horizon is on track to be a massive dud. Costner is no stranger to flops, after the notorious bombs Waterworld and The Postman helped sink his career as a bankable lead actor. But Costner is still not gunshy, putting his money where his mouth is by covering much of the Horizon saga’s budget himself.
Source: THR
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1
- Release Date
- June 28, 2024
- Runtime
- 181 Minutes
- Director
- Kevin Costner
WHERE TO WATCH
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 is a Western film directed by Kevin Costner, and sees him in the starring role. The film explores multiple generations surrounding the expansion of the American West before and after the Civil War. Horizon is the first in a series of four films, all of which were greenlit by Warner Bros. Pictures.
- Writers
- Jon Baird, Kevin Costner
- Studio(s)
- New Line Cinema, Territory Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Warner Bros. Pictures
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