And Now for Some Good News About Kevin Costner's Horizon

And Now for Some Good News About Kevin Costner's Horizon

It appears like Kevin Costner may be the one with the last laugh on Horizon: An American Saga, or at least a slight chuckle.

Upon the announcement earlier this month that Chapter 2 of the four-film Western epic would not be opening on August 16 as originally planned, there was much conjecture that Oscar-winning actor-director Kevin Costner might never realize his long-held dream of having each chapter of his dream project shown in a theater. Territory Pictures and distribution partner New Line Cinema are responsible for the announcement.

In fact, despite the fact that he had already finished producing Chapter 2, some doubters even went so far as to declare that Chapters 3 and 4 would never be released. or the multiplex's interior.

After a much anticipated June 28 launch, Horizon: An American Saga — Part 1 did so poorly at the box office that a significant change in release strategy was decided upon. Plan B: A New Line representative revealed that Part 1 would be made available for rental or purchase on Video on Demand (VOD) earlier than planned, "to give audiences a greater opportunity to discover the first installment of Horizon over the coming weeks" prior to an unspecified opening for Chapter 2.

But hey, what do you know? As of its first week of digital distribution, Horizon 1 is the top-ranked video on demand chart.

"Its speedy switch to home watching after 18 days (typical for Universal beyond its best hits) appears like a wise move: It implies there is an audience, though perhaps not one ready to witness the 181-minute epic in a cinema," writes Tom Brueggemann of IndieWire. He continues, "

"This could enhance interest for Chapter 2, wherever/whenever it plays, and help the troubled project gain momentum and get it out of the red (the combined production cost of [Chapter 1 and Chapter 2] is reportedly $100 million, before marketing)."

Indeed, there are still rumors circulating that the final three movies in the Horizon series would eventually make their premiere on a streaming service like Netflix or Prime Video.

Jordan Ruimy of the movie website World of Reel stated, "It's really sad to say this, but Costner's hopes to turn Horizon into a theatrical movie event have failed." I simply cannot see all four of these movies coming out in theaters. Although there is a possibility that they may be produced and Costner's unidentified backers appear to be contributing much, a theatrical release is too dangerous. The greatest—and maybe only—way to make this franchise profitable for all stakeholders is through streaming.

Perhaps. But, millions of fans who were hesitant to sit through a 181-minute film that wasn't called Oppenheimer might be won over by the present VOD distribution and its impending MAX release. And if Chapter 2 does hit theaters later this year, that might persuade people to get off their ass and go see the film.

All that is known for sure at this time is that Costner has completed work on Chapter 2, begun work on Chapter 3, and given crew members the script for Chapter 4. Numerous examples of box office underachievers becoming so popular on home video and streaming services that sequels were approved and launched in theaters can be found throughout the history of film. While it's true that none of the films that were given second chances lasted longer than three hours, hope never dies.