‘My Ego Would Like That’

Summary

• Chapter 1
  of Kevin Costner’s Western saga only made $800,000 during its Thursday previews, but the film is still projected to make somewhere between $12 million and $13 million domestically during its opening weekend. And Costner would love the film to be successful: “My ego would like that.”
• In regard to
  Chapter 2,
  which opens this August, Costner says, “I satisfied myself that it’s as good if not better than
  Chapter 1.”
• Horizon: An America Saga — Chapter 1
  is receiving poor reviews from the majority of critics, which has led to the film’s Rotten Tomatoes score of only 38%.

Kevin Costner has left Yellowstone far behind for what he wagers will be the greener pastures of his new Western saga, Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1. Costner contributed $38 million of his own money toward Horizon’s $100 million budget. And while the filmmaker would certainly like Horizon to be successful, Costner is satisfied with how the project looks regardless. Costner said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly:

Would I love that it would be highly, highly successful? 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.

Costner, who has starred in a number of Westerns over the years, including Open Range, Dances with Wolves, Wyatt Earp and Let Him Go, spent five and a half seasons as John Dutton on Taylor Sheridan’s streaming series, Yellowstone. Costner was a significant part of something that clearly was a success, but his passion to film and complete Horizon ultimately played a part in the actor parting ways with the show. Now, the fate of Costner’s big-screen project lies in the hands of those who are willing to pay and see the first chapter in a brand-new Western saga. Costner says during the same interview:

“I’ve lived with movies and what happens to them on their opening weekend.
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.”

Horizon

2/5

Horizon centers around fictional characters and takes place in pre- and post-Civil War America, and details the exploration of the American West. Depicting a twelve-year span, the movies feature an ensemble cast portraying various characters and their experiences pioneering into new territory from their homes.

Release Date June 28, 2024

Runtime 3h 1m

Studio New Line Cinema, Territory Pictures Entertainment, Warner Bros.

Distributor(s) Warner Bros.

Expand

Kevin Costner Imparts a Sense of Reality into His Old West

Kevin Costner might not “spoon-feed” audiences, but it’s clear that the filmmaker has a grasp of the Old West and the historical reality he wants to impart in the first installment of his Western saga, Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1. Costner touches on the struggles between settlers and Native Americans, who are all at the center of the storytelling. Costner said in the same interview:

“I just know inherently, intuitively,
that every town in America started like this. Somebody put a stake in the ground for some reason,
and Native Americans had their homes in the best places along the river.
So, it’s not surprising that we come along and go, ‘God, this is a really nice place.’
It’s not based on true stories, but everything I’m doing happened a million times.”

Related Horizon Star Calls Kevin Costner’s Western Saga a ‘Fat Novel’

During an exclusive interview with MovieWeb, Danny Huston dishes about his work in the Westerns Horizon and The Dead Don’t Hurt.

Costner continued:

“I understand the mythology of the thing.
I would prefer to stay with real behavior. People did dance, but they didn’t all know the same dance.
I just try to take these situations and really deal with human behavior, like trying to survive a night of a terrible massacre one breath at a time.”

MovieWeb’s own review of Horizon claims Costner’s Western “disappoints.” Regardless, Chapter 2 will drop in theaters on August 16. Now, after its first day of theatrical release, Chapter 1 is en route to a $12 million to $13 million opening weekend domestically (per Deadline). And while the film’s Tomatometer rating only registers 38%, at the time of this writing, fans are being a bit more forgiving than the critics. As a result, Horizon’s audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is considerably higher at 71%. Costner said of the movie’s August sequel during the same sit-down:

“I satisfied myself that it’s as good if not better than

Chapter 1.
The only
thing that’s different is it actually gets harder on the people and the women in that situation.
It just keeps getting harder.
People are going to just keep coming, and the story is going to keep coming.
And it’s going to expand.”

Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1
is now playing exclusively in theaters.

You can view the original article HERE.