New Line Cinema originally scheduled the release of ‘Horizon 2’ for August 2024 but later pushed it back to March 2025. Instead of a summer debut, the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday. According to Costner, the shift ended up working in his favor.
“For me, it fell back into my plan, which was I always wanted to come out with movies about five-six months apart. And that was going to allow me to come to Venice,” he said during the festival’s press conference. “I would have never come to Venice, because they won’t show the film here if it was already out.”
Venice added ‘Horizon 2’ to the line-up at the last minute on July 31 by announcing that it would play out of competition on the final day. The studio scrapped the movie’s theatrical release earlier that month because the first one earned only $11 million during its opening weekend against a $100 million budget.
“It didn’t have overwhelming success. I’ve had a lot of movies that way, that have stood the test of time.” Costner said of the original’s results.
Despite failure, the director shared a stronger desire to continue with the planned four-part series. “It’s a story, it’s a piece of entertainment that I think can stand the test of time,” he noted. “When I feel rejection, unlike anybody else, when I open my eyes from my disappointment, my desire is only increased.”
Kevin Costner will return both as the director and the lead of the franchise. Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, and Giovanni Ribisi will join him in the future films.
