No, it’s not the 1990s or the early aughts, but Kevin Costner is back in the directing game in a truly big way this year with a two-part film, “Horizon: An American Saga.” After Oscar glory with “Dances With Wolves,” (seven Oscars include Best Picture and Best Director), Costner stumbled in his career pretty hard, both in directing and otherwise. 1995’s “Waterworld” was a notorious bomb, and then just one year later, 1996’s “The Postman,” his sophomore directorial effort was another flop.
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It really took “Yellowstone” to give Costner a late-career renaissance, but just as that series is coming to an end, Costner is going back to his ambitious directing efforts, perhaps the TV drama giving him a renewed sense of confidence.
Set in the pre– and post–American Civil War period depicting the expansion of the American West, Costner is going big with “Horizon: An American Saga.”
The cast is huge and 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, and Jamie Campbell Bower.
In the great tradition of Warner Bros. Pictures’ iconic Westerns, “Horizon: An American Saga” 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.
Costner intends to release a third and possibly fourth film; a third movie was paused because of the writer’s and the actor’s strike last year. But maybe Warner Bros, who is releasing the film, would like to see whether this two-part-event can perform this summer and whether Costner’s renewed draw as a TV star will translate to the big screen.
“Horizon: An American Saga” lands in theaters this summer. Chapter 1 on June 28 and then Chapter 2 on August 16. Watch the new trailer below.
