Yesterday’s news that Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 2” had its August release date delayed indefinitely didn’t come as much of a surprise.
The real question everyone seems to be asking now is, what’s next? Will it ever see theaters? How about ‘Horizon 3,’ which has already shot nine days’ worth of footage and is set to restart production in August — will Costner be able to finish it?
Puck’s Matt Belloni is reporting that before Warner Bros. and Costner decided to delay Chapter 2’s Aug. 16 release, Amazon/MGM Studios inquired about taking the film off Warners’ plate for streaming. Talks were had, but the Amazon offer “was just too low to seriously consider”, and Costner/WB instead pulled the plug on theaters.
Streaming is how I envisioned Horizon’s future to be. Maybe it won’t be with Amazon, but Netflix or even Apple could potentially pick it up and turn it into some kind of 4-movie event. How about Paramount+ which is where Costner’s career was rejuvenated with “Yellowstone” — that would be a fitting home for ‘Horizon.’
Costner surely stands to lose money in the process, but at least his films would get made and seen by a wider audience. Hell, maybe even Warners’ streaming service Max could just premiere the next three chapters.
It’s really sad to say, but Costner’s hopes to turn ‘Horizon’ into a theatrical movie event have failed. I just can’t image all four of these films hitting theaters. There is a chance that they get made, Costner’s mysterious backers seem to be helping out a lot, but forget about theaters for chapters 3 and 4. Streaming is the best and, possibly, only option to turn this franchise into a viable endeavor for all parties involved.