NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 The August theatrical release for the second chapter of Kevin Costner鈥檚 ambitious Western epic 鈥淗orizon: An American Saga鈥 has been canceled after the first film fizzled in theaters.
New Line Cinema announced Wednesday that 鈥淗orizon: Chapter 2鈥 will not hit theaters on Aug. 16 as scheduled. The studio had planned an unusually fast back-to-back release for the two 鈥淗orizon鈥 films. But after the first chapter collected a modest $23 million in its first two weeks in theaters, the distributor pivoted.
鈥淭erritory Pictures and New Line Cinema have decided not to release 鈥楬orizon: Chapter 2鈥 on August 16 in order to give audiences a greater opportunity to discover the first installment of 鈥楬orizon鈥 over the coming weeks," a spokesperson for New Line said in a statement.
For now, the release of 鈥淐hapter 2鈥 will be marked TBD on the theatrical calendar. The first 鈥淗orizon,鈥 which opened in theaters on June 28, will land on premium on-demand July 16. No streaming date on Max has yet been announced. The Hollywood Reporter first reported the shift in plans.
The move is a humbling acknowledgement that Costner's big theatrical gamble for his decadeslong passion project has failed to catch on with audiences. The first chapter of 鈥淗orizon,鈥 which debuted in May at the Cannes Film Festival, cost some $100 million to make, making its path to profitability extremely challenging if not impossible. Costner put some of his own money into it, and has already begun shooting a third installment of what he envisions will
When Costner said, 鈥淭he studio wanted to try that. I knew this was going to come out fairly quickly, like every four or five months. That may have been easier. But this is something they feel like people can remember the first one and it can tie into the second one.鈥
Costner, who directed, co-wrote and co-stars in the films, had been trying to make 鈥淗orizon鈥 for more than 30 years. While releasing the film, Costner from the The ultimate destination of 鈥淗orizon,鈥 he acknowledged, was always going to be on TV.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to break this up into a hundred pieces, you know what I mean?鈥 said Costner. 鈥淎fter four of these, they鈥檙e going to have 13, 14 hours of film and they鈥檙e going to turn into 25 hours of TV, and they鈥檙e going to do whatever they鈥檙e going to do. That鈥檚 just the way we live in our life but they鈥檒l also exist in this form. And that was important for me, to make sure that happened. And I was the one who paid for it.鈥
