Kevin Costner’s ‘Horizon’ sequel pulled after first film flops
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2, the second part of the expansive western epic by Kevin Costner has been pulled from its release date of August 16th.
The Horizon series is comprised of four planned films directed, co-written, produced and starring Costner. Boasting a bumper cast featuring Sienna Miller, Giovanni Ribisi, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Jamie Campbell Bower, Danny Huston, Abbey Lee, Michael Angarano, and Luke Wilson, the collection of movies is the Hollywood legend’s most ambitious project to date.
The set of films follows fictional characters in a changing America over the course of 12 years, before and after the Civil War and during the expansion of the west. Costner’s passion project debuted at the Cannes Film Festival this year, and the film star was visibly emotional after the three-hour-long first movie was finished.
With the western genre close to Costner’s heart and him investing $38 million of his own money into the project, while the rest of the money was funded by two anonymous investors, he hoped that Horizon would hit home with audiences, but it has yet to do so. With Chapter 1 arriving in theatres in June, the follow-up was planned for August 16th, but that is no longer the case.
This decision marks a big disappointment for Costner, as he also paid for the marketing, despite New Line Cinema and Warner Bros distributing the movie. Over the opening weekend, Chapter 1 earned just $11million and less than $3m overseas, a measly return considering $100m was spent on the first two chapters on Horizon.
Accordingly, the second instalment has now been removed from the release schedule. A new date is yet to be announced, with Costner’s Territory Pictures and New Line Cinema aiming for the first chapter to grow its audience before proceeding. As part of this move, Chapter 1 will be able to watch at home from July 16th, alongside being in theatres. It will also come to streaming service Max, but no arrival date has been set.
Territory Pictures explained in a statement: “The audience response to Horizon, and enthusiasm for seeing our story continue in Horizon 2, has been incredibly gratifying. Kevin made this film for people who love movies and who wanted to go on a journey.”
The message continued: “The support that we have received from film fans, and the theater owners, as they experience the first chapter of this saga only serves to reinforce our belief in them and the films that we have made, and we thank them for coming on board for the ride. We welcome the opportunity for that window to be expanded as we know it will only serve to enhance the experience of seeing Horizon 2.”
Warner Bros reportedly only told theatres of the last-minute change on the morning of July 10th, putting some cinemas in sticky situations as they had already begun selling advance tickets for Chapter 2, which will now have to be refunded.
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