Kevin Costner’s Western epic, Horizon, is finally reaching audiences. Warner Bros. has announced that the first film in the planned four-part project, Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1, will be released in theaters on June 28. The second installment will follow two months later, on August 16. The third film is currently undated, as it is expected to begin production after the SAG-AFTRA strike is resolved. This decision comes as Costner exits his other Western project, Yellowstone, amidst conflicts with the studio and showrunner Taylor Sheridan.
The release strategy for Horizon is bold and virtually unprecedented for a major Hollywood title. Warner Bros. sources compare it to Clint Eastwood’s 2006 World War II films, Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima, which were released about two months apart. However, unlike Horizon, Letters was not a direct sequel to Flags. Costner aims to make Horizon an event that breaks through the clutter and excites audiences, following the success of the Barbenheimer phenomenon during the summer.
The ambitious nature of the project draws parallels to Costner’s directorial debut, Dances With Wolves, a three-hour Western epic released in 1990. Doubted by the media and industry insiders, Dances With Wolves became a box office hit and won seven Oscars, including Best Picture. This time, Costner is betting the ranch—literally. He revealed that he leveraged his Santa Barbara home to help finance the saga, which is produced by his Territory Pictures production company. In recent court documents, Costner disclosed that he personally invested at least $20 million and deferred his fees.
Work on Horizon, co-written by Costner and Jon Baird (Filth, Tetris), predates the release of Dances With Wolves. Its origins reportedly go back to 1988, and Costner has been working on getting the project made ever since. At one point, Horizon was set up at Disney. The plot spans the four years of the Civil War and explores the allure of the Old West and how it was won and lost through the blood, sweat, and tears of many. The films will be shot in Utah and feature over 170 speaking roles. The cast includes Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, and Michael Rooker. Costner has indicated that the total runtime of the saga will be about 11 hours.
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Despite the 35-year development timeline, few specifics have been made public about Costner’s character or the story. However, Costner has dropped hints in past interviews. In 2003, he described Horizon as “faster paced and has a younger cast” compared to his previous Western, Open Range. He also referred to it as “one of those marquee types like the Magnificent Seven.” In 2016, Costner mentioned that the film explores how towns came to be in the West and debunks myths about certain aspects. In 2022, he revealed that the story involves women trying to survive in an impossibly tough world.
As the release of Horizon approaches, fans and audiences eagerly anticipate Costner’s return to the Western genre. With its ambitious storytelling and unique release strategy, Horizon promises to captivate viewers and further solidify Costner’s legacy in the genre he helped redefine with Dances With Wolves.
