Horizon: An American Saga

Horizon: An American Saga is a four-part American epic Western film co-written with Jon Baird, and produced by, directed by and starring Kevin Costner. The film co-stars an ensemble cast consisting of Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Giovanni Ribisi, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Will Patton, Tatanka Means, Owen Crow Shoe, Ella Hunt, Jamie Campbell Bower and Thomas Haden Church.

Chapter 1 premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2024, and is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on June 28, 2024, while Chapter 2 will be released on August 16, 2024, both by Warner Bros. Pictures. Chapter 3 started shooting in May 2024. Chapter 4 is in development.

Chapter 1 received mixed reviews from critics.

Premise

Set in the American Civil War period depicting the expansion of the American West.

Cast

Production

Kevin Costner first commissioned Horizon as a single film in 1988, and later approached Walt Disney Pictures with the project after the release of his 2003 film Open Range. It was announced in January 2022 that Costner was set to direct and produce the film, a passion project for him, in addition to starring. It began casting in February. In April, Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema joined the production to distribute. In a June interview, Costner stated he plans to make four movies out of the premise, and was looking to cast over 170 speaking roles.

In August, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jamie Campbell Bower, Luke Wilson, Thomas Haden Church, Jena Malone, Alejandro Edda, Tatanka Means and Michael Rooker were cast in the film. Isabelle Fuhrman, Ella Hunt, Jeff Fahey and Tom Payne would be amongst numerous casting announcements made throughout September. In October, Will Patton, Owen Crow Shoe and Danny Huston were added to the cast.

Filming of at least the first installment began on August 29, 2022 in southern Utah, concluding in November. Filming of the second installment began by May 2023, before concluding in the summer of that year.

Release

In a May 2023 interview, Costner expressed hope to have the first film released by fall 2023. In October, it was announced the film would release in two parts, with Chapter 1 releasing on June 28, 2024, and Chapter 2 on August 16, 2024. Later that month, it was announced that K5 International, the recently relaunched international sales arm of K5 Media Group, would handle international sales on the film at the American Film Market. In April 2024, it was announced that the first part of the film would premiere out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2024.

Reception

Chapter One

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 40% of 25 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 51 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

Bilge Ebiri of Vulture gave a reservedly positive review of Chapter One, likening its incomplete nature to the 2021 film Dune: Part One and stating that "Its stately pace never feels boring, so it doesn’t feel like it should have been shorter. But it also doesn't really work on its own.... And it feels impossible to judge this film, because, in some weird way, it doesn't feel like anything has really happened yet."

Sequels

In June 2022, Costner stated he plans to make four Horizon films in total, shot back-to-back. In November 2022, Costner confirmed that the first film had been completed, and that the second had been greenlit, set to be filmed in Spring 2023. Production for the second film was commenced by April 2023, with Glynn Turman, Kathleen Quinlan and Giovanni Ribisi joining Costner, Miller, Worthington, Hunt, Patton, Wilson, Fuhrman and Haden Church, who continue on from the first film. Director of photography J. Michael Muro, production designer Derek R. Hill, editor Miklos Wright and costume designer Lisa Lovaas would also return. The second film finished production in Summer 2023, with the production of the third film being paused because of the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes.

In May 2024, casting calls for background actors had commenced; while production was slated to begin later that month in St. George, Utah. Later, it was reported that production initially commenced in 2023, before progress halted in part due to the writer/actor strikes. One month following the completion of the previous installment, Costner began filming a montage sequence that features scenes from Chapter 3. Costner stated that principal photography commenced on May 13, 2024; explaining that production had initially been planned to commence on April 25, before being moved to May 6 in order to accommodate funding.

See also

• List of films and television shows about the American Civil War
• List of films split into multiple parts

References

External links

• Horizon: An American Saga at IMDb

1. Kevin Costner filmography
2. Isabelle Fuhrman
3. List of American films of 2024
4. Horizon (disambiguation)
5. Kannappa (film)
6. List of films split into multiple parts
7. List of Western films of the 2020s
8. List of Warner Bros. films (2020–2029)
9. List of New Line Cinema films
10. Sam Worthington
11. Douglas Smith (actor)
12. Ella Hunt
13. Luke Wilson
14. Giovanni Ribisi
15. Will Patton
16. List of films produced back-to-back
17. List of films and television shows about the American Civil War
18. Jena Malone on screen and stage
19. Michael Angarano
20. Abbey Lee