2024-07-15 07:34:22
New Line Cinema announced late Wednesday that it is changing plans and will not send the second installment of the big-budget Western Horizon: An American Saga, directed by Kevin Costner, to theaters in August. The Oscar winner’s new project flopped in theaters.
Czech cinemas are showing the first part of the film Horizont: The American Saga from June 27. Photo: New Line Cinema | Video: Vertigo International
As the AP agency writes, the first part of Horizon: American Saga had a budget of around 100 million dollars. The film from the time of the settlement of the Wild West began showing cinemas at the end of June. So far, however, it has grossed only 25.1 million dollars worldwide, and it has an average score of only 48 percent from critics on Rottentomatoes.com, for example.
It is not doing well in the Czech Republic either, where less than 5,000 people saw it in two weeks. Last weekend, 917 viewers across the country came to see it, according to data from the Union of Film Distributors.
The series is to grow to four films. The second one, already completed for another 100 million dollars, was intended by the well-known Hollywood actor and director Kevin Costner to be released in theaters in August. Meanwhile, he is already shooting the third film and working on the script for the fourth.
After the first part took so little, but the New Line Cinema studio owned by Warner Bros. now they are changing plans. “Territory Pictures and New Line Cinema have decided not to release Horizon: An American Saga – Part Two in theaters on August 16th. We want to give viewers more space to discover the first part first in the coming weeks,” explained the spokeswoman of the company. Those who have already purchased tickets for the second film will be refunded by the company. Costner did not comment on the decision.
“Kevin made this movie for people who love going to the movies and wanted to go on that journey with him,” continues a spokesperson for New Line Cinema. “We’ve had amazing responses from fans and theater owners who saw the first film, which reinforces our belief in this story. The new decision will allow us to expand the window, which will then create space for Horizon 2,” he adds.
Kevin Costner in the movie Horizon: An American Saga. | Photo: New Line Cinema
However, she did not specify the new date of the premiere of the second part even when asked. As part of the new strategy, the first one should soon appear on streaming services, including the Max platform, which is also available in the Czech Republic.
According to Variety.com, the creators are hoping that if the first film stays in theaters for a while and at the same time arouses interest on streaming services, it can reach enough viewers together that it still makes sense to try to release the second part in theaters. For the third and fourth, Costner is still looking for a distributor.
According to the AP agency, however, the current postponement probably represents a sad admission of the fact that the project, which the 69-year-old winner of two Oscars for the film Dances with Wolves has dreamed of for decades, will end in failure. “It seems that Costner’s daring experiment has failed,” states the New York Times.
Kevin Costner went into debt for Horizon. 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,” said the actor last time Moon. “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 as the US Civil War raged.
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 this fall.