Kevin Costner's financial flop - The US release of "Horizon 2" has been postponed for now.
The responsible parties are pulling the plug after the huge disappointment at US box offices: The second part of the Western saga "Horizon" from and with Kevin Costner (69) will not appear in the US as planned on August 16, 2024. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Horizon: An American Saga - Part 2" was initially removed from the cinema schedule without a replacement. Costner's production company Territory Pictures and distribution partner New Line Cinema came to an agreement after lengthy discussions. A new release date will reportedly be given, but one has not been announced yet.
The reason for this decision is obviously the disappointing box office returns of the first part in the US. The Western had been running since July 16 and had only made a fraction of its reported $100 million production costs in the US. The film had already been removed from theatres prematurely. Costner himself had originally invested $36 million of his own money into the project and took a significant financial risk. In Germany, the epic is not set to hit cinemas until August 22. In countries like France and Britain, the film is already running, but it also flopped there.
Now, the responsible parties hope for a boost through the release of the film via Video-on-Demand from July 16. It is expected that the film will reach a larger audience before the release of the second part. In other words: They are betting on time. In a statement from Territory Pictures, it says: "Kevin made this film for people who love movies and go on journeys." They welcome the opportunity to expand the release window.
The Kevin-Costner-Epic is supposed to consist of a total of four parts
The Western saga "Horizon," which is planned for a total of four parts, is considered a pet project of Kevin Costner. He wrote the script, directed, and took on the lead role. Plans for the epic reportedly date back to 1988. Despite his huge success in the 1990s, the project reportedly failed multiple times in financing, according to industry sources. It was only in 2022 that it was finally far enough along, but as already mentioned, Costner had to dig deep into his own pocket for the realization of his dream. Reports suggest that he even mortgaged his over 40,000 square meter property in Santa Barbara to cover the costs.
The second part of "Horizon" was shot long ago, work on parts three and four was supposed to begin at the end of this year. Whether it will come to that remains to be seen in the coming weeks and months.
- The news of "Horizon: An American Saga - Part 2" being removed from US cinema schedules without replacement served as an alarm bell for Kevin Costner and his production company Territory Pictures.
- Despite the critical and financial flop of "Horizon: An American Saga" in the United States of America, Kevin Costner's financial investment in the project and his belief in the series as a pet project remained undeterred.
- The financial failure of "Horizon: An American Saga," classified as a financial flop for Kevin Costner, did not deter him from continuing his involvement in the production of the remaining parts of the Western saga, with plans for Part 3 to start filming at the end of the year.
