The film, which Costner writes, directs and stars in, is the first in a planned four-part series. The two-time Oscar winner sunk $38 million of his own money to make Chapters 1 and 2.
But after a tear-filled premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May and months doing the press rounds, Horizon flopped in its debut weekend — taking in just $11 million in its opening frame.
“I’ve had good luck in my life, and I’ve acquired some things like land, homes,” Costner said in May at Cannes, where the picture premiered. “They’re important to me and they’re valuable, but I don’t need four homes, so I will risk those homes to make my movies.”
Horizon has been a 35-year odyssey for Costner, who helped finance the film by taking out a loan against his 10-acre home in Santa Barbara.
The filmmaker said the story, which follows pioneers who adventured into the American West after the Civil War, was something he couldn’t let go of over 30-plus years.
“It’s hard to fall out of love. I don’t do that. (Movies) that have a classic feel, they don’t fall out of touch either. I think they exist in any decade. That’s the opportunity we have with cinema; to make something that lasts past its opening weekend. I never banked on opening weekend; I banked on people wanting to revisit something,” Costner told reporters. “To me it was a story worth holding on to because it was a story I wanted to tell. It just grew and grew until suddenly I realized I just had to make it.”
With the sprawling Western epic now in theatres, Costner says he’s “happy” with the finished product, regardless of the commercial reception.
“I’ve lived with movies and what happens to them on their opening weekend,” Costner told Entertainment Weekly in an interview published the day Horizon released into theatres. “If we put so much pressure on that, we’re bound to be disappointed. I’m really happy that Horizon looks like what it’s supposed to look like, and that’s the way it’ll look the rest of its life. And that’s really important to me in this process.”
Costner, 69, told the outlet he was hoping for more enthusiasm from moviegoers, but he praised the look of Chapter 1.
“Would I love that it would be highly, highly successful?” Costner said. “Of course, I’d like that. My ego would like that; everyone would like that. But I am happiest that the movie that you and I are talking about looks the way I want it to look.”
In his conversation with reporters back in February, Costner said his story recounts how every town in America got its start.
“People came West, sometimes with a lot of hope, bringing their family, and others came West because they were damaged and were running away from something,” he said. “Nobody knew who each other was … Some people got lucky and some were unlucky … but that’s how this country got settled.”
Westerns can be a tough sell, Comscore chief box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian says, calling the film a “very expensive passion project.” But for Warner Bros., which is releasing the first two Horizon films into cinemas, the partnership is about building a relationship with one of Hollywood’s most respected actors.
“Warner Bros. is historically known for being a filmmaker-centric studio supporting the creative vision of directors as diverse as Stanley Kubrick, Clint Eastwood, Bradley Cooper and Greta Gerwig, just to name a few,” he says. “But no question a Western movie saga with long-running times and an unconventional episodic style theatrical release pattern was always going to be a gamble.”
Costner’s bet on Dances With Wolves paid off (he reportedly made $50 million). He didn’t lose on Open Range or Black or White either. The movie vet also made $52 million when he sold his “oil separator” business to BP in 2010.
But with a reported $100 million budget, Chapter 1 will almost certainly finish in the red. Despite its dismal performance last weekend, Chapter 2 is already slated for an Aug. 16 release. Insiders say there are no plans to change course and Costner (who recently announced he will not return to his role as John Dutton in Paramount Network’s Western hit Yellowstone) is already hard at work on Chapter 3.
After Costner’s press campaign for Chapter 1, Dergarabedian thinks next month’s sequel might garner more audience interest when it opens against fewer films. “Chapter 2 could benefit from a less competitive marketplace environment,” he says.
Dergarabedian thinks the series could find a new group of fans at home.
“Long-running time films that are presented in multiple parts are tailormade for streaming,” he says. With Costner already a fan-favourite among millions of Yellowstone viewers, Dergarabedian predicts that “Horizon could have a big future on streaming.”
“People are going to just keep coming, and the story is going to keep coming, and it’s going to expand,” Costner said.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 is now playing in theatres.