Kevin Costner made a directing return after 20 years to film and star in his passion project Horizon. With plans to be told in four parts, this year’s Horizon: An American Saga Chapter One explored the expansion of the American West and the lives of many people during the Civil War. With Chapter Two already filmed and expected to premiere sometime this year, Costner gives an exciting update for Horizon: Chapter Three and Chapter Four.
As the trailer of Horizon: An American Saga showed the film’s massive wide-open scale, you can tell that Kevin Costner poured everything into giving audiences a Western film that’s both visually appealing and entertaining for audiences. Unfortunately, the 2024 movie release gave critics mixed feelings and a disappointing opening weekend of $34.3 million on a budget of $50 million. Despite the setbacks, the Yellowstone actor told TODAY how proud he was of Horizon and can’t wait for the series to continue:
I love the journey of this thing. It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I love this movie. I love the second one – and the third one’s even harder than the first two, and the fourth one completes the story. I made a promise to myself, I’m trying desperately to keep it, and to bring it to people, these kind of giant stories, and I hope that people fall in love with these characters.
While Horizon: Chapter Two lost its August 16th release date after Chapter One underperformed at the box office, it’ll still have its premiere at the 81st Venice Premiere Festival. With Kevin Costner calling the great news “a beautiful surprise,” Venice Film Festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera picked the sequel for his selection because he had faith in “the visionary project of a great actor and director.” As for when audiences will see it worldwide, Chapter Two is hoped to premiere later this year.
The beginning of the Horizon Saga may not have gotten the expected results that Kevin Costner had hoped, but he still has faith in more to come for his Western film series. He shared some great news about how Chapter Three and Chapter Four are coming along:
A lot of times, the things that you want to make don’t immediately resonate with anyone else. It’s only after you’re done that people begin to understand what it was, and almost, they take ownership themselves, of ‘I love this movie. I love these characters. I didn’t know where this story was going. It’s nice in life to be surprised. The plan is, I’ve already shot a little bit of the third. And to perhaps shoot them back to back next spring.
Considering the recent update we got about the last two chapters was that they were being tweaked a bit, it’s great news that shooting is starting on Chapter Three and possibly being shot with Chapter Four back-to-back next spring. It’s inspirational that Kevin Costner isn’t letting the negativity of low box office numbers or reviews stop him from completing his passion project.
The third and fourth parts of Horizon aren’t stopping anytime soon, as filming has started on Chapter Three with hopes of being filmed back-to-back with Chapter Four next year. With Kevin Costner working his magic towards his Western saga, it looks like we still have three more movies for audiences to continue being absorbed in the lives of his characters. You can watch Chapter One streaming right now with your Max subscription.