Kevin Costner confirmed at Deadline Contenders in Los Angeles on Saturday that he will not be abandoning his ambitious four-part Western film series ‘Horizon: An American Saga’. Part 2 of the series, originally scheduled for release in August, has been removed from theaters following the underwhelming box office performance of Part 1, which debuted in July.
“I’m hoping, I’m dreaming, I’m meeting all the billionaires that we all hear about — they’re all hiding in the shadows,” said Costner, who serves as the director, star, and co-writer of the ‘Horizon’ series. He made the remarks during a panel discussion alongside cinematographer J. Michael Muro, costume designer Lisa Lovaas, and composer John Debney.
Costner, who recently left the hit TV series ‘Yellowstone’ after four seasons, shared that production on Chapter 3 is already underway. While he did not provide specific details about the progress, he assured the audience, “I’ll do 3.”
“I’m don’t know how I’m going to do it,” he added, “but I’m going to make it and then I’m going to make the fourth one. And if you want to say ’the end’ at that point, then that’s the end.”
Costner likened the project, which he first envisioned in the late 1980s, to the myth of Sisyphus pushing a rock uphill and to the pursuit of proof of extraterrestrial life.
“It’s my own private UFO,” he said. “I’ve seen it, and I will never forget it, and I chase it as long as I can. … I will figure out a way to bring you 3 and 4, because you’ve gone to 1 and you’re gonna go to 2, and we’re all gonna go west together.”
‘Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1’ was released in June 2024 but didn’t do well at the box office, earning around $36 million worldwide. This performance caused Warner Bros. to delay the second chapter, which was supposed to come out just six weeks after the first. Costner invested $38 million of his own money to film parts 1 and 2 at the same time.
The first ‘Horizon’ movie, Chapter 1, had an emotional premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in May, where an 11-minute and 40-second standing ovation left Costner in tears.
