Horizon Debuts To One Of Kevin Costner's Worst Rotten Tomatoes Scores

Summary Horizon: An American Saga has one of Kevin Costner's worst Rotten Tomatoes scores at 33%.

With a risk for Costner, Chapter 1 reception is mixed, but Chapter 2 could offer more detail and payoff for audiences.

Despite early critical reception, hope remains that audience reactions will be more favorable in the next installments of the four-part epic.

Kevin Costner’s upcoming Western epic Horizon: An American Saga has debuted on Rotten Tomatoes, with one of the actor’s worst scores. After first conceiving the project as early as the late-1980s, Costner self-funded the Horizon saga, which will tell its story over four parts, becoming the most ambitious project of his glittering career. As Costner’s fourth directorial effort, the movie has received comparisons to his seminal Western Dances With Wolves and Open Range, and the first critical reviews have now dropped.

According to review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, the movie is currently sitting on a “rotten” rating, with a score of 33% at the time of writing. The rating marks Costner’s worst Rotten Tomatoes score since 2016’s Criminal, which also earned 33% from 21 critics. While Horizon doesn’t have an audience score yet, this will follow once the movie has had its theatrical debut in June. The critical score is also expected to fluctuate as the movie gets closer to its release, and more reviews get tabulated.

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What Horizon’s Rotten Tomatoes Score Means for The Franchise's Future

With Three More Installments To Come, The Saga Has A Chance To Turn Its Fortunes Around.

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"Horizon is a big risk for Costner, but the four-part tale can't be fully judged until the saga concludes, and there is hope that future installments may gain better critical reaction."

While the early score for Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 is underwhelming and in stark contrast to the movie’s reception at Cannes, there is a chance of a recovery. Critical reception has not been at the level that might have been expected, and there seems to be a consensus that Costner’s American Civil War epic has plenty of ambition, but struggles in execution. However, after tasting Oscar glory for directing Dances With Wolves, it is possible Costner is being judged more harshly by critics.

Chapter 3 is expected to start filming soon.

It is also worth noting that the Waterworld star boasts a strong filmography, filled with highly rated movies. Of his six most recent movies before Horizon, only two have been certified “rotten” on the site, and each of them has earned an audience score of at least 76%. This bodes well for audience reactions to Horizon, and Costner’s understanding and passion of the genre should provide enough for audiences to enjoy his four-part epic.

Related Is Kevin Costner's Horizon Based On A True Story? Kevin Costner's latest American Western epic is set before and after the U.S. Civil War, raising the question of just how accurate the story will be.

Check out Costner’s recent Rotten Tomatoes ratings:

Kevin Costner movie Rotten Tomatoes Critics Rating Rotten Tomatoes Audience Rating Hidden Figures (2016) 93% 93% Molly's Game (2017) 81% 84% Whitney (2018) 88% 76% The Highwaymen (2019) 59% 76% The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019) 45% 96% Let Him Go (2020) 85% 76% Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024) 30% n/a

Horizon is a big risk for Costner, but the four-part tale can't be fully judged until the saga concludes, and there is hope that future installments may gain better critical reaction. With Chapter 2 set to be released just two months after Chapter 1, this could fill the story with more detail, and give more payoffs to the setups from the first part, which should make for a more satisfying story. Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 might not have achieved critical acclaim yet, but there is hope that opinion will be more favorable with audiences following future releases.

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 is released on June 28, 2024.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes