Ladies and gentlemen, gather around because we’ve got some breaking news about Kevin Costner’s latest Western saga. The highly anticipated second chapter of “Horizon: An American Saga” has been pulled from theaters ahead of its August release. Let’s dig into the details and find out what’s happening with this film series.
In a recent announcement from Costner’s Territory Pictures and their distribution partner New Line Cinema, it was revealed that “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2” will no longer be hitting theaters on August 16 as initially planned. The decision came after the first installment struggled to make waves at the box office.
“Territory Pictures and New Line Cinema have decided not to release ‘Horizon: Chapter 2’ on August 16 in order to give audiences a greater opportunity to discover the first installment of ‘Horizon’ over the coming weeks, including on PVOD and Max,” a spokesperson for New Line Cinema told the Hollywood Reporter.
They expressed gratitude to their exhibition partners for their continued support as moviegoers across the U.S. discover the film in its theatrical run. This move suggests a strategic pivot to maximize the audience’s exposure to the first chapter, giving it more time to gain traction.
In a statement from Territory Pictures, they highlighted the positive audience response to the first chapter and the excitement for the continuation of the story in “Horizon 2.” The statement read, “Kevin made this film for people who love movies and who wanted to go on a journey. The support that we have received from film fans, and the theater owners, as they experience the first chapter of this saga only serves to reinforce our belief in them and the films that we have made, and we thank them for coming on board for the ride.”
They added, “We welcome the opportunity for that window to be expanded as we know it will only serve to enhance the experience of seeing ‘Horizon 2.’”
The first film in the “Horizon: An American Saga” series, which premiered in June, has faced a challenging start at the box office. Opening on the weekend of June 28-30, it earned only $11 million domestically by the end of the weekend. By the second weekend, it had a domestic total of $22.2 million against a hefty $100 million budget, with only an additional $3 million coming from overseas markets.
To boost the film’s profitability, it will be released not only in theaters but also on Premium VOD (PVOD) starting as early as next week. However, there’s no set timeline for when it will be available on the streaming platform Max.
Kevin Costner, known for his role in “Yellowstone,” had previously downplayed the significance of box office numbers. He told Entertainment Weekly, “If we put so much pressure on that, we’re bound to be disappointed. I’m really happy that ‘Horizon’ looks like what it’s supposed to look like, and that’s the way it’ll look the rest of its life. And that’s really important to me in this process.”
So, folks, it looks like we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the next chapter of this epic saga, but with more ways to watch, there’s plenty of opportunity to catch up on this journey. Stay tuned for more updates on when you can see “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2” both in theaters and at home.
