Horizon 2's New Premiere Plan Is Good News For Kevin Costner's Western Sequel After $33M Setback

Summary Horizon 2 will premiere at the Venice Film Festival, generating anticipation and hope for Costner's Western franchise.

Despite Chapter 1's box office struggles, VOD success offers redemption and a promising outlook for the future.

Costner's ambition and dedication to his Horizon franchise deserve a theatrical release and a fair chance to succeed.

Kevin Costner's Western epic Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2 has been given a new premiere date at the upcoming 81st Venice Film Festival on September 7, 2024. Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2 was pulled from its initial theatrical release date of August 16, 2024, following the underwhelming box office performance of Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1, which was released on June 28, 2024. The very first installment in the planned 4-part Western franchise only generated $33.2 million at the worldwide box office against a $50 million production budget, making it one of 2024's biggest flops.

Despite the disappointing box office run of Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1, the film instantly became the most popular movie on video-on-demand services, which offered a glimpse of redemption for Costner's budding Western franchise. This is an exceptional sign of life for Costner's anticipated sequels after hope seemed to have dimmed after Chapter 1's financial struggles that he would still be able to make Chapters 3 & 4. Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 is currently available to rent or purchase on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and through several cable services.

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Horizon 2 Will Premiere At Venice Film Festival After Chapter 1 Changed Costner’s Plans

A premiere at Venice certainly adds some much-needed anticipation for Horizon 2

Thanks to the VOD success of Chapter 1, Costner was likely able to use that to get Horizon 2 into the festival. It may lead to another theatrical release date before the end of 2024.

Costner's vision for his Horizon franchise has always been ambitious but he had been willing to place a big bet on himself in his first directorial effort since 2003's Open Range. The heavy 3-hour 1-minute runtime of Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 may have provided one of the strongest cases for audiences to wait until the film became available to rent and purchase at home. Still, the disappointing opening weekend box office of the first Horizon installment was undeniably concerning after its weak $11 million start and set up a potential disaster for the upcoming second chapter.

Now that Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2 will officially premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 7, the franchise nearly seems just as promising as it was even before Chapter 1 was first released. The Venice Film Festival is one of the oldest and most prestigious film festivals in the entire world and certainly adds a much-needed sense of acclaim to the Horizon series, even though Chapter 1 suffered from mixed reviews. Thanks to the VOD success of Chapter 1, Costner was likely able to use that to get Horizon 2 into the festival. It may lead to another theatrical release date before the end of 2024.

Related Will Horizon's New VOD Success Be Enough To Save Kevin Costner's Western Epic After $32.9M Disaster? Kevin Costner's Horizon has found new life on VOD platforms after flopping at the summer box office, but is it enough to save his franchise?

Horizon 2’s Premiere Is A Good Show Of Faith In Kevin Costner’s Western

At the very least, it's a promising sign that there’s still hope for the franchise

A big aspect of movies premiering at film festivals is to find distributors and investors, which could be Costner's main intention for bringing Horizon 2 to Venice.

While the addition of Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2 to the prestigious slate of debuts at the Venice Film Festival is certainly a great sign for the franchise, it obviously doesn’t guarantee anything, such as a theatrical release date in 2024. At the very least, it's a promising sign that there’s still hope that Horizon 2 will revitalize the budding franchise and add an element of acclaim, which could lead to a theatrical release. Ostensibly, having the film's premiere be delayed by only a few weeks is a great rebound strategy for Costner, even though the general public will not have access to it just yet.

It's unclear what exactly will happen to Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2 after it premieres at the Venice Film Festival, but there are a few clear options. A big aspect of movies premiering at film festivals is to find distributors and investors, which could be Costner's main intention for bringing Horizon 2 to Venice. Typically, disappointing box office numbers of this caliber would quickly dispel any immediate notions of an impending sequel. However, considering that Costner has already produced, funded, and set a film festival debut for Horizon's sequel, it creates an incredibly unusual circumstance that creates a great deal of uncertainty.

Related Don't Give Up On Kevin Costner's Yellowstone Return After Horizon 2's Game-Changing Update Costner took a massive gamble by deserting Yellowstone for his Horizon franchise, which turned out to be one of the biggest box office flops of 2024.

Why Horizon 2 Deserves A Theatrical Release Despite Box Office Struggles

Costner's efforts to preserve the modern-day Western put him up there with the likes of Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Howard Hawks, and other legends of the genre.

Costner is an undeniable legend of both film and television and deserves to have his passion project in theaters for the sake of all he has accomplished, particularly for the modern-day Western genre. Whether people like Westerns or not, the genre has a significant place in American film history and deserves to continue on into the 21st century along with sci-fi, horror, action, and thriller movies. Costner's efforts to preserve the modern-day Western put him up there with the likes of Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Howard Hawks, and other legends of the genre.

What's more, Costner is an Academy Award-winning director and should be given the opportunity to tell his story the way he sees fit. While Horizon 1 may have been somewhat longwinded and meandering, Horizon 2 is set up to have more action and intensity, which should absolutely be shown on the big screen. Costner should also be in more of Horizon 2 after not appearing in the first hour of Horizon 1, which is another plus for the sequel over the original. The Horizon franchise is already set up as a proper epic and Costner should at least be given a fair shot to see it through.

Related This Movie With 85% On Rotten Tomatoes Is Kevin Costner's Most Overlooked Western A thrilling & critically acclaimed 2020 Kevin Costner western film is one of the most overlooked recent movies of the celebrated actor's career.

Will Horizon 2 Be A Success?

Horizon 2 must be profitable one way or another

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If the film trips on itself like the first one did and leaves the Venice Film Festival without much momentum, then Costner's Horizon franchise is as good as dead.

There's really no way of projecting other than guessing whether Horizon 2 will be worth the hype or the trouble. If the film trips on itself like the first one did and leaves the Venice Film Festival without much momentum, then Costner's Horizon franchise is as good as dead. Even though Costner has a monolithic status in Westerns and with Paramount, it simply seems impossible for a big studio to invest in a project that they essentially already know they will lose money on, especially in this day and age. There were solid parts of Horizon 1 that Horizon 2 will need to capitalize on and expand effectively.

Costner still certainly has a lot of influence over the future of his Horizon franchise, but at the end of the day, it will come down to whether or not these films will become profitable. Costner struggled to attain financing for the first two films and had to put a whole lot of money up to make his passion project realized on the big screen. The question is, who is going to jump aboard now to fund Costner's anticipated sequels after the flop of its very first installment, especially in this increasingly timid Hollywood atmosphere? Costner may find a way to keep churning out his Horizon films but it may cost him more than it's worth.

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