Kevin Costner's second 'Horizon' film pulled from theatrical release
NEW YORK (AP) â The August theatrical release for the second chapter of Kevin Costnerâs ambitious Western epic âHorizon: An American Sagaâ has been canceled after the first film fizzled in theaters.
New Line Cinema announced Wednesday that âHorizon: Chapter 2â will not hit theaters on Aug. 16 as scheduled. The studio had planned an unusually fast back-to-back release for the two âHorizonâ films. But after the first chapter collected a modest $23 million in its first two weeks in theaters, the distributor pivoted.
âTerritory Pictures and New Line Cinema have decided not to release âHorizon: Chapter 2â on August 16 in order to give audiences a greater opportunity to discover the first installment of âHorizonâ over the coming weeks," a spokesperson for New Line said in a statement.
For now, the release of âChapter 2â will be marked TBD on the theatrical calendar. The first âHorizon,â which opened in theaters on June 28, will land on premium on-demand July 16. No streaming date on Max has yet been announced. The Hollywood Reporter first reported the shift in plans.
The move is a humbling acknowledgement that Costner's big theatrical gamble for his decadeslong passion project has failed to catch on with audiences. The first chapter of âHorizon,â which debuted in May at the Cannes Film Festival, cost some $100 million to make, making its path to profitability extremely challenging if not impossible. Costner put some of his own money into it, and has already begun shooting a third installment of what he envisions will ultimately be four movies.
When asked in May about the movies hitting theaters in quick succession, Costner said, âThe studio wanted to try that. I knew this was going to come out fairly quickly, like every four or five months. That may have been easier. But this is something they feel like people can remember the first one and it can tie into the second one.â
Costner, who directed, co-wrote and co-stars in the films, had been trying to make âHorizonâ for more than 30 years. While releasing the film, Costner confirmed his exit from the hit series âYellowstone.â The ultimate destination of âHorizon,â he acknowledged, was always going to be on TV.
âTheyâre going to break this up into a hundred pieces, you know what I mean?â said Costner. âAfter four of these, theyâre going to have 13, 14 hours of film and theyâre going to turn into 25 hours of TV, and theyâre going to do whatever theyâre going to do. Thatâs just the way we live in our life but theyâll also exist in this form. And that was important for me, to make sure that happened. And I was the one who paid for it.â