Kevin Costner’s Horizon Chapter 1 Is Out, and It’s a Box Office Disaster
Things are looking horrendous for the Western star’s massive passion project.
Horizon: An American Saga has been Kevin Costner ’s dream for many long years. The Western star just couldn’t find a studio willing to take him up on his idea, and in the end, he resorted to pouring his own life savings and attracting a few private investors to back him up. The first Horizon movie is finally out now, but it doesn’t feel like any of those investments are even getting refunded.
Horizon Chapter 1 Had a Terrible Opening
Kevin Costner’s four-part magnum opus’s first installment just went through its opening weekend, and the results can’t be called anything but disastrous.
As more critic and audience reviews have arrived, Horizon Chapter 1’s ratings dropped massively: the movie has merely 40% Critic Score on Rotten Tomatoes now. Viewers are more favorable, however, awarding it 71% on RT and a similar 7.2/10 on IMDb.
But it’s the box office results where things are getting truly terrible. The first movie cost just around $100M to produce, which is no small investment… And after its opening weekend, Horizon Chapter 1 only brought back $11M! That’s roughly 5% of what it must earn to break even, so it’s safe to say that things aren’t looking great for Kevin Costner so far.
An American Saga Will Keep Going
The unique twist in this story is that currently, the box office failure of Chapter 1 doesn’t really matter. Horizon Chapter 2 will premiere soon, anyway; and Chapter 3 is already shooting. Admittedly, the first three out of four movies will be released, no matter what — and then, it would be a half-measure to not fund the finale somehow.
Kevin Costner has been specifically keen on leaving a special legacy in the past few years, and he sees Horizon: An American Saga as the manifestation of all the work he’s done in decades; the magnum opus he will be remembered by. While the first installment isn’t looking too hot right now, it doesn’t matter as much legacy-wise — but we’re still hoping that Costner’s ridiculously expensive passion project pays off.