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Kevin Costner’s ‘Horizon 2’ pulled after debut proved huge box office flop

Kevin Costner’s Hollywood gamble has been a colossal failure, with his costly sequel pulled prior to its scheduled release.

Thursday, July 11 | Top stories | From the Newsroom

For Kevin Costner’s next movie, there’s no longer a release date on the horizon.

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter Two, the first of three sequels to Costner’s ambitious new Western that hit theatres last month and flopped big-time at the box office, has been scrapped from the August schedule.

The follow-up, which the former Yellowstone star wrote, directed and appears in, is now undated.

Chapter Two was supposed to come out August 16, just weeks after the first part, but critics loathed Chapter One, a Civil War-era epic that had a splashy premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

Horizon: An American Saga has bombed at the box office.
Horizon: An American Saga has bombed at the box office.

In a one-star review, The Post called the $148 million flick, which Costner spent some $56 million of his own money to make, “an embarrassing, poorly told mess.”

The review went on: “I could not fathom committing another 540 minutes of my time to this bloated ego trip.”

Audiences have not been much more generous. In its first two weeks, Horizon has only grossed $US23 million ($A34 million).

The series is distributed by Warner Bros’ New Line Cinema.

The direct sequel to Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga was slated for an August release, but has since been pulled. Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
The direct sequel to Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga was slated for an August release, but has since been pulled. Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

“Territory Pictures and New Line Cinema have decided not to release ‘Horizon: Chapter 2’ on August 16 in order to give audiences a greater opportunity to discover the first instalment of ‘Horizon’ over the coming weeks, including on PVOD and Max,” a New Line spokesperson told Variety.

“We thank our exhibition partners for their continued support as moviegoers across the U.S. discover the film in its theatrical run.”

Chapter Three is currently in production.

Costner is reportedly scheduled to fork up $148 million of his own cash to fund the pricey passion project.

This story originally appeared on New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Kevin Costner’s ‘Horizon 2’ pulled after debut proved huge box office flop

Original URL: https://www.thechronicle.com.au/entertainment/movies/new-movies/kevin-costners-horizon-2-pulled-after-debut-proved-huge-box-office-flop/news-story/5e6004bd36814bffce0434765b98f488