Kevin Costner’s $100 million Western a box-office bust

Article content

Kevin Costner’s passion project, the film Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1, debuted in cinemas on June 28 after four decades in the making. Unfortunately movie fans weren’t nearly as excited as its writer, director and star.

Article content

Industry tracker Boxoffice Pro estimates the film, which is intended to serve as the first of four titles focused on frontiersmen in the American West, brought in $11 million in North America over its first weekend.

After opening at the lower end of that range, it will be hard for Costner to recoup the $100 million cost of the project. The actor has said he put $38 million of his own money into filming.

“I’ve had good luck in my life, and I’ve acquired some things like land, homes,” Costner said in May at the Cannes Film Festival, where the picture screened. “They’re important to me and they’re valuable, but I don’t need four homes, so I will risk those homes to make my movies.”

In addition to putting in his own funds, Costner, 69, financed the project by selling foreign rights to the movie. In the U.S. and Canada, it’s being released by New Line Cinema, part of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

Article content

Article content

In Horizon, Costner stars as pioneer Hayes Ellison alongside an ensemble cast that includes Sienna Miller and Danny Huston. He began developing the project in 1988 and held talks with Walt Disney Co., but the two sides couldn’t agree on a budget.

So far, Horizon — Chapter 1 has generated poor reviews, including a lackluster 50% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.

A recurring complaint is that the three-hour movie is uneventful and only serves to set the scene for Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 2, which is scheduled for theatrical release on Aug. 16.

Theatre chains are struggling to attract the audiences they once did, stymied by the twin Hollywood strikes last year, which cut the number of films available, and a dearth of blockbuster hits. Consumers have also grown more comfortable watching streamed content at home.

Article content

“The first part of a planned four-part epic saga strives for a lot, but serves more to remind us of the best of the genre without achieving it itself,” Stephanie Zacharek wrote in Time. In a more positive critique, Helen O’Hara of Empire magazine said the film was “well performed” and “a throwback to the glory days of event-movie horse operas.”

Working in Costner’s favor is that his fame is largely derived from Westerns, ranging from the current Paramount network series Yellowstone to 1990’s Dances with Wolves. He directed and starred in what Box Office Mojo reported was a $22 million production, which went on to gross $424 million worldwide.

Last week, the actor announced on social media that he won’t be returning for a final season of Yellowstone. As much as he loved the show, his work on Horizon had taken up too much time.

Article content

“I’ll see you at the movies,” he said.

Costner joins other big-name entertainers who have poured their hearts, souls and money into projects that hold personal meaning.

In February, singer-actress Jennifer Lopez released This Is Me … Now: A Love Story, a genre-bending movie about her relationship with Ben Affleck, on Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Video streaming service. Lopez reportedly spent $20 million of her own funds on the effort.

At Cannes, The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola screened the sci-fi picture Megalopolis, a movie he first envisioned in the 1970s. Like Horizon — Chapter 1, it also divided critics.

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. announced earlier this month it will distribute Megalopolis, which features Adam Driver and Aubrey Plaza, in the US and Canada. To help finance the $120 million budget, Coppola sold off part of his wine empire in California.

At a press event in Cannes, Coppola said he didn’t care about the money or selling part of the vineyards, as long as he got to make the film.

At a separate event there, Costner joked that he cared at least a little about the pile of money and homes jeopardized by Horizon — Chapter 1.

“Every time I looked at this pile, I’m like, ‘F—-, I don’t want to lose you. Why am I so interested in this movie?’”

Article content