Horizon: An American Saga (Costner) (Chapter One: June 28, 2024 & Chapter Two: Aug. 16, 2024)

Kevin Costner has big plans for his long-awaited fourth directorial effort “Horizon,” an epic western that’s going into production at the end of August.

The “Yellowstone” star told Variety that the project, which is housed with Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema, is being planned as “four different movies” and that “about every three months, they’ll come out.”

“They’re all different films that all connect, so you’re watching a saga of these storylines that are happening,” said the actor, who was in London doing press for the U.K. launch of Paramount+.

Costner said the film is currently casting and “trying to fill up” 170 speaking roles.

Announced back in April, “Horizon” is Costner’s first directorial project since western “Open Range” in 2003. His two other films were “The Post Man” (1997), in which he starred as a drifter who dons a postman uniform to explore America, and the American Civil War-era classic “Dances With Wolves” (1990), which earned Costner the best director prize at the 1991 Oscars, along with six other Academy Awards.

Produced by Costner’s Territory Pictures outfit, “Horizon” will span 15 years in the settlement of America’s Western frontier, and focus on both the settlers as well as the Indigenous groups that first occupied the land.

“It’s a really beautiful story; it’s a hard story,” Costner told Variety. “It really involves a lot of women, to be honest. There are a lot of men in it, too, but the women are really strong in ‘Horizon.’ It’s just them trying to get by every day in a world that was impossibly tough. They were often [dragged] out to these places because that’s where the men wanted to go; women were following their men. They didn’t ask to be in these territories that were unsettled and dangerous, and life wasn’t easy. I’ve chosen to make sure that was really obvious, that that wasn’t easy, and how vulnerable people were.”

Asked whether the film’s four-part configuration may lend “Horizon” to a streaming play, Costner said the project was sold as an “event television movie” but that “what [the studio does] with it will really be up to them because things change really quickly in how people want to see things and what they want to do.

“I’m happiest because at one point in TV — where you can get your largest audience — they’re going to get to see it the way I intended it to be seen. It will eventually be cut up into [hour-long episodes] or 42 minutes — however TV works. But their first viewing of it will be as four 2 hour and 45-minute movies. And every three months, one will come out. If you’re interested in those characters, the hope is that you’ll really want to watch the next one, but it won’t be in hour segments.”

“Horizon” currently has a shooting schedule of 220 days. While the first film will shoot this fall, the next three will be lensed from April 2023 with the trio of titles shooting “at the same time.”

“So, I’ll probably shoot for eight months,” said Costner. “It’s a mountain — a mountain of time.”

“I’m as pressed as I’ve ever been in my life in terms of the responsibilities and the amount of decisions I’m having to make every day, between doing what I’m doing every day for ‘Yellowstone’ and my own [work]. There’s a lot of people standing behind me waiting for me to make decisions and things like that.”

Costner is currently filming on Season 5 of Taylor Sheridan’s hit Paramount Network series “Yellowstone,” in which he plays John Dutton, whose family owns the largest ranch in Montana and must constantly fight to hold on to it.

Season 5, which will air later this year, will show Dutton facing intense pressure to hang on to his land, said Costner.

“It’s been set up in a sense that there’s so much pressure on what’s coming for his land that he’s going to have to do something, so we’re going to see what he did and does to stay ahead of it and I think that’s what John Dutton has to do but the pressures about the land have been, always for this family, [that they’ve] got to hold on to it with a level of violence,” said Costner.

“The walls pressing on [John] are environmentalists, the Native American issues, politicians, the public outcry for more land. So, he’s dealing with really modern problems.”

Costner said he “[doesn’t] know anything” about a potential Season 6, and didn’t elaborate on his thoughts about the show’s spin-offs “1883” and the forthcoming “1923.”

“I don’t know where it’s going,” said Costner. “I think people feel they hit a formula and they want to keep it up. I know they want to make a decent story of it. People are capitalizing on it and hopefully they’re doing it in an elegant, intelligent way.”

The Oscar winning filmmaker’s western epic Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 and 2 will respectively open in cinemas on June 28, 2024 and Aug. 16, 2024.

The movie is being released by New Line. On June 28, currently there’s Paramount’s Mission: Impossible 8 and Sony’s Horrorscope, while on Aug. 16 next year there’s 20th Century Studios’ Alien reboot.

Horizon returns Costner to the Civil War backdrop he previously visited in his multi-Oscar-winning Dances With Wolves. The pic follows the 15-year span of pre- and post-Civil War expansion and settlement of the American West. Experienced through the eyes of many, the epic journey is fraught with peril and intrigue from the constant onslaught of natural elements, to the interactions with the indigenous peoples who lived on the land, and the determination and at many times ruthlessness of those who sought to settle it.

Costner directs and stars alongside a cast that includes Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, 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. Producers are Costner, Howard Kaplan and Mark Gillard.

There was some chatter that the first part of this movie would wind up on this year’s schedule for awards season, however, until the actors strike is over, that didn’t really make sense. Note there are awards movies waiting in the wings to be dated should SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP reach an agreement in the near future.

Rusty wrote:Pretty good cast in this. Still a ways off though.

When Kevin Costner revealed the trailer for “Horizon: An American Saga,” the first of his planned four-part epic about the American West, the two-time Academy Award winner looked positively giddy — at least over Zoom.

“Trailers have always been kind of a favorite part for me, even as a boy going to the movies,” Costner said, grinning as he unveiled the first footage in a virtual conversation with journalists. “You’re obviously there to see the movie you want, but isn’t it kind of cool when you see what’s coming? … And with that in mind, I did my very best to expose what’s going to be a four-part saga.”

“Horizon” chapters 1 and 2 will have a dual theatrical release from Warner Bros., with the first film hitting theaters on June 28 and the second debuting August 16. Costner’s goal in crafting the trailer was to find the moments in the film that would translate as sense of the ride audiences will take in these grand films, which focus on 15-year span of pre-and post-Civil War expansion and settlement of the American West.

“Can they, in a sense, feel themselves in this movie? Because that’s what I want people to feel in the dark, that [it] suddenly just absorbs them,” Costner teased. “We all know what happens when the lights go out — either something good, something average or something great. What I hope is that this is something that stays with them forever.”

The three minute trailer introduces “Horizon’s” ensemble cast — led by Costner’s Hayes Elllison, who rides into the frame with the stunning landscapes of Utah on full display — and tees up the action as the film explores the triumphs and tragedies brought on by the ideology of Manifest Destiny. The clip shares a first look at his co-stars Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Will Patton, Tantanka Means, Owen Crow Shoe, Ella Hunt and Jamie Campbell Bower.

Among the footage is a harrowing scene in which Miller’s family is attacked by unseen assailants shooting arrows into their house and burning it down. The family is separated as Miller and her daughter hide in the basement while her son goes with his father to fight back. The clip also shows Wilson’s character leading a group of settlers along the treacherous voyage west. “All I’m trying to do is to get as many of us as I can, as far as I can,” he says desperately, as scenes of a funeral play out.

Much of the footage simply teases, rather than directly explains the film’s plot, offering glimpses of the Native American populations that will be featured in the film and possibly a romantic storyline between Costner’s Ellison and Lee’s character.

“Use that much this year?” Bower’s character asks Costner near the end of the clip, as he uses his shotgun to reveal Costner’s holstered pistol.

“Haven’t had much need of it yet,” he replies, as the clip cuts to a scene in which Costner displays his quick draw skills.

“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a bad man right here,” Bower declares, chuckling as Costner walks away.

The official description explains that the film “explores the lure of the Old West and how it was won — and lost — through the blood, sweat and tears of many. Spanning the four years of the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, Costner’s ambitious cinematic adventure will take audiences on an emotional journey across a country at war with itself, experienced through the lens of families, friends and foes all attempting to discover what it truly means to be the United States of America.”

In addition to starring in the film, Costner directed from a script he co-wrote with Jon Baird. “Horizon: An American Saga” is Costner’s fourth directorial effort following 2003’s “Open Range,” 1997’s “The Post Man” and 1990’s Oscar best picture-winning “Dances With Wolves.”

“This is by far the biggest struggle,” Costner declared, when asked if ‘Horizon’ or ‘Dances with Wolves’ was more difficult to make. “I’m shocked at what we were able to get. I shot ‘Dances’ for 106 days, I shot the movie you’re just seeing right now in 52. … I did learn a lot and I was able to use every trick in the book to try to bring this movie to ground and to bring it to an audience. And there’s four of them!”

In the conversation, moderated by Deadline’s Mike Fleming, Costner also detailed the origins of the project and explained why he held onto this idea for more than 30 years.

“It’s hard to fall out of love. I don’t do that,” Costner said. “Things that have a classic feel they don’t fall out of touch either. I think they exist in any decade. That’s the opportunity we have in cinema is to make something that lasts past its opening weekend. I’ve never banked on opening weekends; I banked on people wanting to revisit something.”

With “Horizon” specifically, Costner wasn’t deterred when no one wanted to finance the movie; in fact, that gave him the “bright idea to make four,” he quipped, adding that, “There’s a lot of people out there that know I’m a little bit of a hard-head or something.”

In terms of the film’s tone, he wanted to step away from the well-worn Western tropes.

“That’s a bit of a formula for the West, and when it’s done right, we never forget it. [But] too often it’s just a convenience for a hero guy to knock down a dumb guy,” Costner said. “We have a lot of Westerns that aren’t good, because they get too simplified. Westerns are, in fact, complicated, because this isn’t Disneyland. These were real lives. People just making their way. Women just trying to keep their families clean, fed, and basically worked to death. Women’s lives were short; all they did was have to work. I’m drawn to that. I mean, I’m always gonna get to my gunfight, but I’m drawn to the little things of what people had to endure.”

Because he was so passionate about this story, Costner said he eventually realized that he had to make it which mean looking to himself financially to do it.

“Not the smartest thing,” he admitted, alluding to the personal cost of risking his 10-acre Santa Barbara home to fund the movie series. “But I count on people. I count on the movie speaking louder than anything I can say. And so with that in mind, I just shoved West myself and I just left, and I went out to make this movie in Utah.

Costner then explained why he shot the film in the Beehive State. “When you go through Utah, it’s magic. And it wasn’t easy for us to do. There were certain things that weren’t set up that we see in other states. … But I kind of bypassed the smart business decision to go where my money could stretch farther.” Costner noted that the production spent over $100 million in Utah and employed more than 500 people over the course of the shoot. “We had an impact on the state, but the state had an impact on me.”

He also revealed that the movie was originally titled “Sidewinder,” but because he’d had a few movies that inspired copycats, like Robin Hood and Wyatt Earp, he wanted to throw the industry off his scent.

“I just thought, ‘I don’t want anybody stepping into whatever I’m trying to do,’ so I called it ‘Horizon’ and said it was written by my son just to disguise it when it went to the Writers Guild,” Costner said. “But the longer I started to think about it, the more I began to appreciate that dreams, going West, they’re always about ‘Out there.’ When you realize a country is bigger and farther than anyone ever dreamed, it is about the horizon.”

He explained: “Because everybody is looking for something — even today, in the relationships and what’s going on at work. They’re looking for room; they’re looking for fresh air. And our 200 year march across this country was no different.”

Costner also acknowledged the injustices that the film saga will explore, particularly as it explores the Civil War era, which he describes as “a mark on our country, however you choose to look at it — the loss of life, the reason it was fought, the things that we still haven’t solved, we’re still trying to come to terms with as a nation — but it closed the West in a blink of an eye.”

The war had kept the country’s on the east coast, but the minute it ended in 1865, everyone looked west again. “In 25 years, something that had been there for thousands of years, it was over. Our national appetite was to be satisfied at the at the disadvantage to those who had been there and flourished and were living in their own way,” Costner said, referring to the Indigenous populations who were crushed by the movement.

Reflecting on his own interest in the time period, he continued: “I don’t know that I’ve ever come to terms with that myself. I don’t know that I’m ashamed or embarrassed, but I want to project what really happened. There was a great injustice occurred in the West. But it doesn’t minimize the courage it took for my ancestors to actually cut loose and go there. And I recognize the resourcefulness, it took the bravery it took to leave and make this march across this country. It’s just a movie that kind of shows the clash of cultures. It’s our history.”

With so much experience in the western or cowboy genre in projects like “Dances With Wolves,” “Open Range,” and most recently as the star of “Yellowstone,” Costner cautioned that he’s not trying to reinvent the wheel with “Horizon.”

“You try not to separate yourself from the rest of the reindeer in terms of [saying] ‘I’m going to be different,’ because I’m not looking to set the record straight or make a history lesson,” he said of the film. “There’s just a way I look at movies: I’m gonna get to the action; I’m gonna get to my gunfight, but I’m gonna get there in maybe a different way. … The West is a real place with real issues.”

At the end of the day, Costner hopes to achieve a couple goals. “I want my little girl to see what her great, great, great-grandmother went through,” he said of his personal investment in the story. But on a broader scale, he hopes the ride is worth moviegoers’ money.

“The oldest profession is telling stories around a fire. We all want to hear a good one and we don’t want somebody to waste our time. And I take my time, I hope I don’t waste your time,” Costner said. “I made four of these. I’d like for us to all take those journeys and try to have a high understanding of this first one. The second one’s already shot. I’m out there, heading west again, pushing a rock uphill trying to make the third one. I know I’m a little bit kind of a joke, or it’s maybe humorous to even watch me, because it’s like, ‘Whoa, I wonder when he’s going to ever stop digging.’ I don’t know.”

At this point, the movie isn’t even his anymore. “Horizons” will now travel the world, as will the questions he’s been dreaming about for decades. Like, if he’d made that trek in the 1800s, would he have made it? He might not know the answer to that question, but he’s feeling pretty accomplished anyway.

“I’m terribly satisfied in my own life that God allowed me to get these first two done,” Costner said, quipping, “I mean, if I’m hit by lightning, who knows what happens? At least I went West.”

Rusty wrote:I came here to post that trailer

Looks good. This might even be that one that gets my arse back into a cinema.