Another day, another film festival for Kevin Costner, whose troubled movie Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 premiered at Zoo Palast in Berlin on Sunday.
But the 69-year-old Yellowstone alum’s journey through the backstage of the 791-seat theater randomly landed him inside a kitchen where he warmly greeted the uniformed staff.
‘This is Germany!’ Kevin announced to laughter in the room.
‘We’re in Germany right now. I’m in a kitchen. I’ve been in a lot of kitchens, uh, but thank you guys. You guys look really nice! Alright, make sure you see this movie.’
After the staff dutifully agreed to see Horizon, Costner made his way inside the venue where he introduced the first part of his four-part western.
On the red carpet, the two-time Oscar winner looked dapper as ever wearing a navy-blue suit over a white shirt, no necktie, black Oxfords, and black-framed glasses.
Kevin is still filming and raising money for chapters three and four of Horizon after the first two chapters had a combined budget of $100M (including $38M of his own money).
Costner had to mortgage a beachfront property in Santa Barbara in order to help fund his epic, set before and after the Civil War.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 received a dismal 48% critic approval rating (out of 145 reviews), and yet managed to eke out a decent 70% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
After chapter one only earned $34M back from its $50M budget at the global box office, New Line Cinema decided to cancel the August 16 US release for chapter two on July 11.
Luckily, Venice Film Festival swooped in on July 31 and announced they would host the world premiere of Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 out of competition on September 7.
‘My dream was always to show @horizonamericansaga Chapter 2 at the Venice Film Festival,’ the Emmy winner – who boasts 4.7M social media followers – wrote on Instagram.
‘The fact that now they have decided to show Chapter 1 earlier in the day and then the world premiere of Chapter 2 that evening shows not only their belief in how the two films work together but their support of a director’s vision.
‘I’m indebted to Alberto Barbera for his courage and leadership in committing to this cinematic journey. It is with gratitude and excitement that I return to the Venice Film Festival. Long live the movies and those willing to stand for them.’
It features Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, and Jamie Campbell Bower.
Kevin cast his 15-year-old son Hayes Logan Costner as the minor character Nathaniel Kittredge in chapter one, and he cast his 36-year-old son Joe Tedrick Costner in a mystery role in chapter three.
Costner pays his ex-wife #2 Christine Baumgartner $63K/month in child support to help care for Hayes, son Cayden, 17; and daughter Grace, 14; after settling their contentious divorce battle on September 19 – five months after their legal separation following 18 years of marriage.
The twice-divorced father-of-seven fathered Joe, 40-year-old daughter Annie, and 38-year-old daughter Lily during his 16-year marriage to ex-wife #1 Cindy Costner, which ended in 1994.
Kevin also has a 28-year-old son Liam with his ex-girlfriend Bridget Rooney.
On November 26, Weldon Owen will publish the $60 320-page coffee table book The Great Horizon featuring a foreword written by Costner as well as 250 photographs taken by Cale Glendening on the set of the first two films.