Kevin Costner’s Western film “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1” will be available to watch on streaming service Max beginning next Friday, August 23, per Variety.
The first installment of the film series was a box office disappointment, leading the studio to push back the second film’s theatrical release from its original scheduled date of August 11. A New Line Cinema rep said this move was planned to “give audiences a greater opportunity to discover the first installment of ‘Horizon’ over the coming weeks, including on PVOD and Max.”
“Horizon: Chapter 1” earned just $11 million at the box office against a $100 million production budget. Costner used $38 million of his own money to help fund the project and was aggressively seeking backers for the intended third film. Costner wrote, directed, and starred in the movie.
“Horizon: Chapter 2” will now debut at the Venice Film Festival on September 7. Production for the third film already began in the spring and a script for the fourth has been distributed to key crew members, the outlet noted.
A second statement from Territory Pictures said, “The audience response to Horizon, and enthusiasm for seeing our story continue in Horizon 2, has been incredibly gratifying.”
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“Kevin made this film for people who love movies and who wanted to go on a journey,” it said. “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,’” the statement concluded, as The Daily Wire previously reported.
Costner had previously blamed “TikTok culture” on the film’s lackluster performance. He said modern audiences aren’t equipped to deal with lengthy movies, and “Horizon” is three hours long.
“It’s real cinema, folks. So be prepared. We ain’t used to that s***. We’re used to 90-minute movies. Everything’s 90 minutes…Get over that s***,” the actor told TMZ in July.
He added, “Let’s watch a movie that actually tells a story. Where you learn about the people and grow to like them — or hate them. It’s not all fast, cut, cut, cut.”
When asked if short-form content like clips on TikTok were to blame, he said, “Totally, they are. Of course they are. They gotta get over that crap…They gotta learn what it’s like to watch real cinema.”
