You may have heard of Kevin Costner’s ambitious four-part Western epic, Horizon: An American Saga, but there’s a good chance you didn’t make it to the theaters to see the first installment. Now, after a dismal box office performance, Warner Bros. Pictures (via New Line Cinema) has pulled the second installment from its theatrical release schedule.
The news came (via THR ) on July 10, about two weeks after the first part hit theaters. Reviews were not kind to the first part of this ambitious work, which barely grossed $25 million worldwide, with more than $23 million of that coming from the U.S. Long story short: It sure sounds like modern audiences just want to watch Westerns at home.
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While expectations were not high for the film’s box office performance, the film surprisingly flopped, especially when we consider the huge success Yellowstone and its spinoffs had with television audiences. Costner left that “universe” to focus on his long-planned four-part epic, a passion project he had been working on since 1988, and we’re sure he hoped to transfer some of that success to Horizon.
“Territory Pictures and New Line Cinema have decided not to release Horizon: Chapter 2 on August 16 to give audiences more opportunities to discover the first half of Horizon in the coming weeks, including on PVOD and Max. We appreciate the continued support of our exhibition partners as moviegoers across the country embrace the film in theaters,” a New Line Cinema spokesperson said of the planned release date for the second film. The first half of Horizon was always conceived as a two-part summer event. almost
Regardless, the ultimate ending of Chapter 2 isn’t the biggest question here, as it’s already been completed. Scripts for Parts 3 and 4 are ready, but the prospects are currently bleak, and it remains to be seen whether they will go forward. Looking at the success of the aforementioned Yellowstone and its sister series, perhaps there is a path forward for Horizon as a full-fledged streaming saga, but westerns that cost more than $100 million to make (with Costner paying a large portion of the cost himself) are not Hollywood’s top priority right now.
