VIP Viewpoint | Inside Kevin Costner’s Big Gamble as His Self-Financed Western Epic ‘Horizon’ Opens @VIP_Viewpoint | Uploaded June 2024 | Updated October 2024, 3 hours ago.
Inside Kevin Costner’s Big Gamble as His Self-Financed Western Epic ‘Horizon’ Opens
"Horizon: An American Saga," a possibly disastrous three-hour film written, produced, directed, and starring Kevin Costner, has seen a covered wagon's worth of ink spilled in recent weeks. The first of four planned films about the American West will debut in theaters this weekend.
You've undoubtedly heard that the films are expensive; they're the long-term passion projects of a movie icon who recently regained his cultural relevance with the popular series "Yellowstone." The $100 million production of the first will be followed in a matter of weeks by its sequel. You've probably also seen stories where Costner came clean and said he had to pay $38 million of his own money to make the movies. This is a very open admission from an A-lister who has been forced to take a risk on himself. Perhaps you've seen the reviews, which on Rotten Tomatoes averaged a pitiful 40% positive, or the box office predictions, which suggest the movie will gross an alarming $10 to $15 million on its opening weekend.
You may be unaware of his past experiences that have brought him to this point. It comes at a turning point in the history of Hollywood filmmaking, where filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola (with his groundbreaking film "Megalopolis") and Kevin Costner have had to go it alone in order to realize audacious ideas that studios and streaming services did not think could be made profitably.
As things stand, the Oscar winner for "Dances With Wolves" mortgaged valuable undeveloped real estate in Santa Barbara, California, to get his share of the action, and he also raised extra money for the movies from unidentified investors. Warner Bros., his longstanding studio partner, is being considered as a hire distributor. But the business isn't even using its own funds for marketing when it comes to "Horizon."
However, Costner's story was first promoted as two movies. Prior to a merger with Discovery in 2022, Warner Bros. expressed interest in the company. According to three people acquainted with that regime, the company's CEO at the time, Jason Kilar, had issued his studio head, Toby Emmerich, an order to produce one "quality movie" each month exclusively on streaming. WarnerMedia was then called that. HBO Millions of dollars were being spent searching for material to entice users to join Max, the nascent service that is currently known as Max, in an effort to rival Netflix.
According to sources, Emmerich and his group approached the project as a package deal, which implied Warner Bros. would support the financing of both movies. The actor was known for his business acumen, so adding Costner to a direct-to-streaming film would be a bold move. Warner Bros. has distributed some of Costner's pivotal films during his career, such as "JFK" and "The Bodyguard." He was also sought after to play Superman's adoptive father in franchise films such as DC's "Man of Steel." However, the rules altered when AT&T dissolved its catastrophic union with WarnerMedia and Discovery amalgamated with the film studio. With a different plan in hand, Costner approached the company's new executives, Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca, proposing not only to shoot two more movies, increasing the total number to four, but also to give "Horizon" a broad theatrical release. The films follow a huge cast of characters as they travel to different places in search of better lives throughout a 12-year period, both before and after the American Civil War.
Max's movie streaming requirements had abruptly altered, but De Luca and Abdy wished to respect the studio's association with Costner, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Under the Warner Bros. Label, New Line, the package was briefly explored, but the economics quickly proved problematic.
Costner had to go out on his own and secure the funding since he had no interest in compromising his vision. The state of Utah provided $14 million in tax incentives to support the second "Horizon" project's production. Releasing the movie in the United States and a few other countries will earn Warner Bros. approximately 8% of the box office receipts from "Horizon," according to two insiders. The cost of marketing is being covered by Costner and his supporters. Several unidentified film marketers told Variety that the P&A budget for the movie is easily $30 million, a figure that two people familiar with the matter confirms. The studio remained silent.
Under the direction of Josh Goldstine, the Warner Bros. motion picture marketing team created the campaign in collaboration with Costner and included some unique twists to draw in viewers. A few exhibitors have offered complimentary concessions for seeing the sequel, or they have sold tickets to the first two "Horizon" installments as a pair at a discounted price.
Inside Kevin Costner’s Big Gamble as His Self-Financed Western Epic ‘Horizon’ Opens
"Horizon: An American Saga," a possibly disastrous three-hour film written, produced, directed, and starring Kevin Costner, has seen a covered wagon's worth of ink spilled in recent weeks. The first of four planned films about the American West will debut in theaters this weekend.
You've undoubtedly heard that the films are expensive; they're the long-term passion projects of a movie icon who recently regained his cultural relevance with the popular series "Yellowstone." The $100 million production of the first will be followed in a matter of weeks by its sequel. You've probably also seen stories where Costner came clean and said he had to pay $38 million of his own money to make the movies. This is a very open admission from an A-lister who has been forced to take a risk on himself. Perhaps you've seen the reviews, which on Rotten Tomatoes averaged a pitiful 40% positive, or the box office predictions, which suggest the movie will gross an alarming $10 to $15 million on its opening weekend.
You may be unaware of his past experiences that have brought him to this point. It comes at a turning point in the history of Hollywood filmmaking, where filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola (with his groundbreaking film "Megalopolis") and Kevin Costner have had to go it alone in order to realize audacious ideas that studios and streaming services did not think could be made profitably.
As things stand, the Oscar winner for "Dances With Wolves" mortgaged valuable undeveloped real estate in Santa Barbara, California, to get his share of the action, and he also raised extra money for the movies from unidentified investors. Warner Bros., his longstanding studio partner, is being considered as a hire distributor. But the business isn't even using its own funds for marketing when it comes to "Horizon."
However, Costner's story was first promoted as two movies. Prior to a merger with Discovery in 2022, Warner Bros. expressed interest in the company. According to three people acquainted with that regime, the company's CEO at the time, Jason Kilar, had issued his studio head, Toby Emmerich, an order to produce one "quality movie" each month exclusively on streaming. WarnerMedia was then called that. HBO Millions of dollars were being spent searching for material to entice users to join Max, the nascent service that is currently known as Max, in an effort to rival Netflix.
According to sources, Emmerich and his group approached the project as a package deal, which implied Warner Bros. would support the financing of both movies. The actor was known for his business acumen, so adding Costner to a direct-to-streaming film would be a bold move. Warner Bros. has distributed some of Costner's pivotal films during his career, such as "JFK" and "The Bodyguard." He was also sought after to play Superman's adoptive father in franchise films such as DC's "Man of Steel." However, the rules altered when AT&T dissolved its catastrophic union with WarnerMedia and Discovery amalgamated with the film studio. With a different plan in hand, Costner approached the company's new executives, Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca, proposing not only to shoot two more movies, increasing the total number to four, but also to give "Horizon" a broad theatrical release. The films follow a huge cast of characters as they travel to different places in search of better lives throughout a 12-year period, both before and after the American Civil War.
Max's movie streaming requirements had abruptly altered, but De Luca and Abdy wished to respect the studio's association with Costner, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Under the Warner Bros. Label, New Line, the package was briefly explored, but the economics quickly proved problematic.
Costner had to go out on his own and secure the funding since he had no interest in compromising his vision. The state of Utah provided $14 million in tax incentives to support the second "Horizon" project's production. Releasing the movie in the United States and a few other countries will earn Warner Bros. approximately 8% of the box office receipts from "Horizon," according to two insiders. The cost of marketing is being covered by Costner and his supporters. Several unidentified film marketers told Variety that the P&A budget for the movie is easily $30 million, a figure that two people familiar with the matter confirms. The studio remained silent.
Under the direction of Josh Goldstine, the Warner Bros. motion picture marketing team created the campaign in collaboration with Costner and included some unique twists to draw in viewers. A few exhibitors have offered complimentary concessions for seeing the sequel, or they have sold tickets to the first two "Horizon" installments as a pair at a discounted price.
