Hollywood is going through a two-parter movie phase right now. In the past two years, we’ve seen big franchises like “Fast & Furious,” “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” and “Mission: Impossible” all split sequels into two parts, while franchise hopefuls like “Dune” and “Rebel Moon” have also become two-parter movies. Even “Wicked” is hoping to tell its story in two movies. On paper, most of those decisions make some sense: Those are big genre movies with loads of story (and a lot of potential money to be made from extending that story), so rather than make one very long movie, they’ve opted for two. What is much more surprising is seeing a Western join that club. But that isn’t stopping Kevin Costner from turning his passion project “Horizon: An American Saga” into one of the biggest box office gambles of 2024. This is Costner’s first directorial effort in 21 years, and much like in 2003 with “Open Range,” Costner is aiming to bring back the Western to the big screen.
The two-part “Horizon: An American Saga” is set in the time before and after the American Civil War, and focuses on the expansion of the American West. In addition to directing, Costner stars, co-writes, and produces the film, which is one of our most anticipated movies of the year.
Kevin Costner’s Big Gamble
Kevin Costner first planned to make “Horizon” as a movie back in the ’80s, even setting the movie up at Disney at one point. He never really let go of the project, and it’s such an important movie for the Academy Award-winning actor and filmmaker that he left the very popular (and profitable) “Yellowstone” in order to be able to shoot it. Indeed, after it was decided that the fifth season of “Yellowstone” was to be split into two parts (oh, the irony) and it would collide with the shooting schedule of “Horizon,” Costner departed the show, even if it meant going to court over it. Oh yeah, and Costner is dumping a ton of his own money into financing these movies, mortgaging some of his property in California to make it happen.
“Horizon: An American Saga” is said to have more than 170 speaking roles (according to The Hollywood Reporter) and has an impressively stacked cast including Sienna Miller, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Will Patton, Tatanka Means, Owen Crow Shoe, Ella Hunt, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Jake Sully himself — Sam Worthington.
If it wasn’t already clear that Kevin Costner is all in on the “Horizon” train, he is pulling a James Cameron (but with a smaller budget) and hopes to make four films total. “An American Saga,” indeed.
