Kevin Costner knew Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 would be a success, he just didn’t know it would take the help of streaming platforms to get it there.
On Friday, the legendary actor attended the North American premiere of Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 and spoke with DECIDER about the film’s delayed release after underwhelming box office numbers for Chapter 1. Both chapters were originally set to release in theaters in 2024, but Chapter 2 was held in order to give the first film time to find its audience. That it did.
After premiering on Max in August and Netflix in December, the movie has finally found its niche, debuting on the latter platform in the top three movie spots domestically and Netflix Top 10 globally. In its first week alone, Chapter 1 racked up 12 million hours watched, according to reports. Costner — who serves as co-writer, actor, and director of the planned four-part project — shared that while he hasn’t seen updated numbers since its initial release, knows that the movie is finally where it was always meant to be.
“I think it’s interesting that the movie came out six months ago and people are still finding it with little push from anywhere. It’s out there. It’s standing amongst the biggest movies of the year and it was streamed more than them,” he told Decider at the Santa Barbara International Fest Festival. “It tells me that people want to go places in their heart and their mind.”
After releasing in theaters in late June, the movie made just $38.7 million on a roughly $100 million budget (before P&A, prints and advertising). That budget does include costs for Chapter 2, as well, as the movies filmed consecutively. While the public may have been trigger-shy to check out the sprawling, three-hour epic Western in theaters, it appears that watching it from the comfort of the couch is the move.
The films — which take place during the mid-1800s and follow a cast of characters each searching for a better life in the American West — also star Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Giovanni Ribisi, Georgia MacPhail, Luke Wilson, Michael Rooker, Jon Beavers, Jamie Campbell Bower, and more. The second installment does not yet have a theatrical release date but is expected in 2025.
As for what he thinks helps to set the film apart and why it’s just now taking off, Costner shared that it’s the women of his massive ensemble who really give the movie its voice. No stranger to a Western, he explained that he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was an untold story in examining how women lived at the time in a world designed by and for men.
“This American Western specifically has women in it,” Costner added. “When we started writing it, women kept dominating my storyline. You have no West without women. But they were often drug out there against their will, and they just had to live in the fear and the dirt and everything, trying to keep their families clean.”
One of the women at the center of Costner’s story is MacPhail, who plays Elizabeth Kittredge, the daughter of Frances Kittridge (Miller). The first film begins with the deaths of Frances’ husband and her son — played by Costner’s own child, Hayes — and the remaining two-plus hours see the mother-daughter duo facing the rough terrain of the West. MacPhail told Decider that she is eternally grateful to Costner not only for the opportunity but for the lessons her character has taught her, which will be further unveiled in Chapter 2.
“For my character, especially, and the journey that she has, I really hope that young girls like Elizabeth in the first movie are able to see that when bad things happen — when tragic things happen to you — you’re able to bounce back. You’re able to learn and grow,” MacPhail shared.
The young actress added that for fans anxiously waiting to see what happens to Elizabeth in the upcoming installment, there is some good news: “She has a lot less tragedy going on.”
Another person looking forward to the fans finally getting their hands on Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2? Jon Beavers, the actor behind the role of Junior Sykes, an outlaw on a mission alongside his brother (Campbell Bower) to find the young woman (Jena Malone) who shot their father. Beavers told Decider at the premiere of Chapter 2 that the film will finally see the weaving together of the various plots in a way that works both thematically and theatrically.
“I’m really impressed with the way that Kevin has zeroed in on a few of the stories that he opened up in the first chapter and woven together themes that you didn’t necessarily recognize,” Beavers — who is currently starring in Hulu’s Paradise — explained.
He added, “When you get out into the Wild West and it’s the plains and there are dangers untold, everybody’s going through similar stories. And he [Costner] really heightens those and focuses on some really incredible performances — he tells nuanced stories while he’s telling a big story at the same time.“
The world will just have to wait to see how the story unfolds. Hopefully, it won’t be too long, now. Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 is currently streaming on Netflix and Max.
The post Kevin Costner Says He Hasn’t Seen ‘Horizon: Chapter 1’s Streaming Numbers But Knows It’s a Success: “It’s Standing Amongst The Biggest Movies Of The Year” appeared first on Decider.
