Kevin Costner's ‘Horizon: Chapter 1' Storms Netflix Charts at #2

UPDATE: Well, would you look at that? It turns out that, no doubt spurred by “Yellowstone” fans, ‘Horizon’ has become a very popular title on Netflix. The film, which was made available to stream on the platform just five days ago, is now #2 on the Netflix charts.

EARLIER: Here’s a surprise. Those in the U.S will now be able to see Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 1” on Netflix. The film was originally supposed to be a Max exclusive. Is something brewing in the background?

Back in July, I reported that Netflix had made an offer to Costner. The streamer was willing to partially help in funding chapters 3 and 4 of the Western saga. The plan would have been to release each chapter, months apart, on Netflix, with potential plans to eventually, if Costner agreed, turn it into an episodic mini-series.

I heard that Costner politely declined the offer. But what if ‘Horizon: Part 1’ turns out to be a hit on Netflix? I bet Costner would rethink his original decision. At this point, the well has dried up, and he’s only shot nine days’ worth of footage for ‘Chapter 3.’ Of course, if Costner had agreed to the Netflix offer then the ‘Horizon’ movies would not have gotten theatrical distribution. After all, Costner isn’t Greta Gerwig.

As it remains in a state of limbo, Costner’s four-part Western has already been marked for dead by some in the industry. Things aren’t looking so bright for the saga, and with the third film having only been partially shot, his wallet is already looking at financial losses in the excess of $75M, maybe more. These downer numbers still haven’t stopped Costner in seeking financing to complete the third and fourth films.

In a recent interview with Deadline, Costner admitted having had meetings with “all of the billionaires we hear about.”

I’m don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I’m going to make [Chapter 3] and then I’m going to make the fourth one. And if you want to say ’the end’ at that point, then that’s the end.

There is currently no release date for ‘Chapter 2,’ which was pulled from Warner Bros’ summer schedule after the first instalment, which cost $110M, failed to lure an audience into theaters, earning just $29M domestically. ‘Chapter 2’ did end up world premiering at the Venice Film Festival in September, albeit to weak reviews which further complicated matters for potential distribution.

I’m thinking, if ‘Chapter 1’ pulls in strong viewing numbers, then maybe ‘Chapter 2’ ends up at Netflix, but Costner would have to sign on to that deal, and he still seems very adamant at giving these films, two of which haven’t even been shot yet, a theatrical release.