Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 will be available as Premium VOD July 16.
Bad news for those of us who enjoyed Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1, and were eagerly awaiting the next chapter in Kevin Costner’s epic Western: Chapter 2 has been bumped from its originally announced Aug. 16 opening date, due to disappointing box-office numbers for Chapter 1.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Costner’s Territory Pictures and distribution partner New Line Cinema have decided to rethink their ambitious release plan in hopes of allowing more time to grow the audience for the first film. As part of the new game plan, Chapter 1 will debut on Premium VOD July 16 while still being available in theaters.
The shift in strategy was agreed upon, a New Line spokesperson said, “in order to give audiences a greater opportunity to discover the first installment of Horizon over the coming weeks, including on PVOD and MAX. We thank our exhibition partners for their continued support as moviegoers across the US discover the film in its theatrical run.”
“The audience response to Horizon and enthusiasm for seeing our story continue in Horizon 2, has been incredibly gratifying,” Territory Pictures added in a separate statement. “Kevin made this film for people who love movies and who wanted to go on a journey. 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.”
A MAX premiere date for Horizon 1 and a new release date for Horizon 2 have not yet been announced. Variety reports that filming on Chapter 3 “is expected to resume in mid-August and key members of the crew also have the script for Chapter 4.”
Right from the start, the Horizon series has always been viewed as a risky financial gamble. Costner has made no secret of his being forced to invest more than $38 million of his own money for Chapter 1. He funded the rest, says The Hollywood Reporter, “with the help of two mystery investors and by selling off foreign rights. New Line and Warners agreed to distribute and market the first two movies for a fee, with Costner ponying up for the marketing.” Even so, “Costner intends on making four films.”
Until we hear otherwise, the C&I crew is betting Costner’s enthusiasm for his long-cherished dream project remains undiminished, even if the original release pattern has changed. And yes, we suspect he will keep putting his own money where his dreams are.
As he told us in our July 2024 cover story: “[I]t’s like, I will look and see what I own and maybe keep a few things that I won’t forfeit, but I don’t want to hold onto things so tight that I can’t accomplish the things I want to accomplish.
“Maybe the reason I have some nice things that I could risk is because this is the life I chose, and so I can identify the amount of things I need, what my family needs. But some of these other things, for as much as I’ve worked for them, and hard, I’m also not going to be a slave and hold onto them and let something else that I’m trying to do suffer when they’re sitting right there. You could, biblically speaking, look at them and go, that’s why they were there.”
Then, referencing a key moment from Part 1 when the commander of a far-flung 1860s Army post (Danny Huston) describes the dangers facing westbound pioneers, Costner promised: “I’m going to make it. I’m going to look at those graves where those people are on the side of the road, and I’m not going to be with them, Joe. I’m going to get there.”
Watch this space for further developments.
