2024-08-03 17:37:38
The second part of the Western series Horizon: An American Saga, which was directed, produced and starred Kevin Costner, will finally make it to cinemas, although for now only as a one-off. It will have its world premiere on September 7, on the final day of the Venice Film Festival, whose organizers will also screen the first part outside the competition.
The Czech cinema screened the first part of the film Horizont: The American Saga from the end of June. Photo: New Line Cinema | Video: Vertigo International
It had its premiere in the French Cannes in the spring, after which it was released in cinemas at the end of June. However, due to its poor results, studio New Line Cinema announced last month that it is changing plans and will no longer release the finished sequel on the big screen in August, as originally planned.
“I have always dreamed of presenting the second part of Horizon at the Venice Film Festival. I am eternally grateful to Albert Barber for his courage and leadership skills. I return to Venice with gratitude and enthusiasm,” Costner wrote now on Instagram. Barbera is the director of the Italian festival. “Long live the movies and all who are willing to fight for them,” added the actor and director.
The first part of Horizon: The American Saga cost around 100 million dollars. However, the film from the time of the settlement of the Wild West has so far grossed only 33.9 million dollars worldwide, and has an average score of 48 percent from critics on Rottentomatoes.com, for example.
It didn’t do well in the Czech Republic either, where less than 5,000 people saw it in two weeks. On the first weekend of July, according to data from the Union of Film Distributors, only 917 viewers came to it across the country. In the following weeks, it did not return to the top twenty most visited.
The series is to grow to four titles. The latter was completed by well-known Hollywood actor and director Kevin Costner for another $100 million. A premiere at the Venice festival will help give it exposure, but it still doesn’t mean Costner will be able to get the sequel into mainstream distribution in the US or other countries after distributor New Line Cinema backed out of the project last month.
Meanwhile, Costner, the 69-year-old winner of two Oscars for Dances with Wolves, wants to continue shooting the third film in August and is working on the script for the fourth. He doesn’t even have a distributor for them yet.
Because of Horizon, the actor and director went into debt. At the festival in Cannes, France, he said that he had to borrow and guaranteed the bank with his property by the sea in California. He invested about 38 million dollars in the project from his own pocket. “I knocked on the cabin of every yacht parked in Cannes asking for help. Everywhere they invite me to take a photo. And I tell them: no, I’m not here for a photo shoot, I’d like to talk to you about money,” the actor said. “It’s very difficult and it’s still not over. I need more money,” he added.
The saga takes place over a span of 15 years, with the first volume covering the events between 1861 and 1865, when the US Civil War was raging and white settlers were bloody occupying lands inhabited by Indians.
The director of the Venice festival, Alberto Barbera, praises the film. “It is a visionary project of a great actor and director who decided to personally vouch for this epic portrait of the time in which his country was born,” said Barbera. According to him, Costner went “beyond the boundaries of myths” to capture “a complex time full of contradictions” as authentically as possible.
Kevin Costner has years of experience with the genre. In addition to the Oscar-winning Dances with Wolves from 1990, he acted in the cowgirls Silverado or Wyatt Earp. In recent years, he has drawn attention to himself as the star of the popular TV series Yellowstone, which ran for five seasons. The final episodes will premiere in the fall.
This year’s edition of the Venice festival will last from August 28 to September 7.
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