After a poor showing at the box office, Kevin Costner’s Horizon: Chapter 1 has been released on VOD, where it hopes to find an audience.
The story of Kevin Costner’s new epic, Horizon: An American Saga, is one that news outlets and the movie community have analyzed as one of the biggest gambles that a modern-day movie star has gone into with a passion project. For months, it has been reported on the sacrifices that Costner has made in his career and his personal life to put his vision out into the world. This included stories of his marriage and his popular TV series being put in jeopardy as he paid all of his attention and effort into the massive undertaking of directing and starring in a multi-part epic in a genre that is no longer known for having its finger on the pulse of audiences.
The big question is: will the gamble pay off for Costner? Although a big profit would certainly be ideal, Costner has never given the impression that he was setting out to make the next Avengers or Avatar, but he wanted to tell the story he wanted in the way he wanted. Costner’s three-hour Western would attempt to compete at the summer box office and the film opened with an $11 million gross in its first weekend, which wasn’t a great result. Even worse, the box office dropped off fast, with it looking like it will end its run with a mere $30 million gross. As such, the sequel, Horizon: Chapter 2, has been pulled from its planned release date, and the first film has been released for digital-on-demand as of today.
Although other movies this summer have had shortened theatrical windows, this quick home release could also be a tactic by the studio to get potential audiences interested in the upcoming entry, with viewers either succumbing to their curiosity or they are likely opting to start their journey with this saga from the comfort of their own home.
The nature of the film being such an epic but also a set up for future chapters (especially with Costner’s grand vision totaling four movies overall), the critical reception hasn’t quite taken to this film, with only a 47% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the audience score has been more generous, with a 71%. In the review from our own Chris Bumbray, he mentions, “Horizon feels like the appetizer before a main course, with it doing so much heavy lifting in terms of set-up that you walk out of the movie feeling like you have only gotten part of an experience. As such, I feel like this movie will fare much better once more installments come out, but I still found myself thoroughly engaged from beginning to end. I’ll say this: if part two were open right now, as soon as the credits rolled, I would have walked right into a second film, and I’m eager to get more out of Costner’s epic saga.”