Posted in: Movies, Warner Bros | Tagged: Horizon: An American Saga, Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 1, Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 2, kevin costner
Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 1 Arrives On Max Later This Month
Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 1 will debut on Max later this month. The film only made $34M at the worldwide box office.
Article Summary
- Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 1 hits Max streaming on August 23, following its poor box office performance.
- Kevin Costner directed, wrote, and starred in the $100M Western, which grossed only $34M worldwide.
- Second chapter release delayed as Warner Bros. evaluates digital and streaming response to Chapter 1.
- Challenges in multi-part film releases highlighted as Horizon struggles to gain audience interest.
Warner Bros. didn't have a good summer, and a couple of major misfires set the studio back after they had a decent start to 2024. Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 1 was one of the bigger misfires. The film was being pushed as the first part of a massive series of films that Kevin Costner directed, wrote, and starred in. The first two chapters were given 2024 release dates, but when Chapter 1 underperformed at the box office, making only $34 million on a budget of $100 million and didn't have the critical accolades to fall back on, things weren't looking good. The second film was pulled from its release date, and the plan seemed to be to give Chapter 1 time on digital and streaming to find an audience and then release Chapter 2. The film has been on digital for a couple of weeks now, but we got word today that the film will be making its debut on Max starting August 23rd.
Horizon: An American Saga is an example of what happens when the first part of a film underperforms, and you're left sitting on a completed second part and an audience that isn't interested. Wicked is another film that could face a similar fate at the end of the year if the first part of that film also underperforms. While there is more consistency in shooting the entire movie at once, you also run into the problem that you can't fix any criticisms your audience might give you between films one and two. So all of the faults from the first film roll over to the second and become even harder to ignore, souring the entire experience. While the longer wait between parts is annoying for audiences, it means creatives are free to adapt and address criticisms or even things that didn't work the second time around. Now that Horizon has been pulled from the schedule, there is a chance the movie could go back for reshoots to try and course correct. Still, considering the first film underperformed so much, Warner Bros. won't likely want to put more money into a series that has already lost money.
Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 1 – Summary, Cast List, Release Date
Academy Award-winning visionary filmmaker Kevin Costner directs New Line Cinema's vast Horizon: An American Saga Chapters One and Two, a multi-faceted chronicle covering the Civil War expansion and settlement of the American West. A story of America too big for one film, this true cinematic event also stars Costner, who co-writes with Jon Baird (The Explorers Guild) and produces through his Territory Pictures.
In the great tradition of Warner Bros. Pictures' iconic Westerns, Horizon: An American Saga explores the lure of the Old West and how it was won—and lost—through the blood, sweat, and tears of many. Spanning the four years of the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, Costner's ambitious cinematic adventure will take audiences on an emotional journey across a country at war with itself, experienced through the lens of families, friends and foes all attempting to discover what it truly means to be the United States of America.
Costner, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, and Giovanni Ribisi star alongside an impressive ensemble cast that includes Abbey Lee, Will Patton, Jena Malone, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Jeff Fahey, Isabelle Fuhrman, Ella Hunt, David O'Hara, Owen Crow Shoe, Tatanka Means, Tim Guinee, Scott Haze, Tom Payne, Alejandro Edda, James Russo, Jon Beavers, Jaime Campbell Bower, Michael Anganaro, and more.
New Line Cinema and Territory Pictures Present a Territory Pictures production, a Kevin Costner Film, Horizon: An American Saga. The film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures in theaters Across North America, the first was released on June 28, 2024, the second on currently doesn't have a release date, and in select international markets—Spain and UK on those same respective dates, and Holland and Italy on 4 July.
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