Kevin Costner’s passion project could have a second life.
On Friday, New Line Cinema and Territory Pictures announced that Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 will make its streaming debut on August 23.
The epic Western can be seen exclusively on Max.
When the movie – which stars Kevin and Sienna Miller – came out in theaters, it was a disappointment. But now it has a chance to win a much wider audience as movies are still being viewed mostly at home event though lockdown is long over.
This comes after Kevin revealed he would not be going back to Yellowstone to finish shooting season five.
The last few episodes of Yellowstone are now filming in Montana with Luke Grimes, Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly.
‘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,’ a press release shared.
‘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, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington and Giovanni Ribisi star alongside an impressive ensemble cast that includes Abbey Lee, Will Patton, Jena Malone, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Jeff Fahey, Isabelle Fuhrman, Ella Hunt, David O’Hara, Owen Crow Shoe, Tatanka Means, Tim Guinee, Scott Haze, Tom Payne, Alejandro Edda, James Russo, Jon Beavers, Jaime Campbell Bower, Michael Anganaro and more.
Costner returns to directing, for the first time since his 2003 critically acclaimed hit ‘Open Range,’ and revisits Civil War-era America, the setting for his 1990 blockbuster and directorial debut Dances with Wolves, which won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
He produces alongside Howard Kaplan and Mark Gillard, with Danny Peykoff, Robert Scannell, Armyan Bernstein, Charlie Lyons, Barry Berg, and Rod Lake executive producing. Screenplay by Jon Baird & Kevin Costner; story by Jon Baird & Kevin Costner and Mark Kasdan.
Yellowstone has been filming in Montana this summer.
Ryan Bingham, who plays rebellious ranch-hand Walker, shared on Instagram his new wife Hassie Harrison will also be back on the series. They wed in May after dating for one year.
On the Dutton ranch, she plays his on-screen love interest as well; her name is Laramie and she works as a barrel racer.
Even if Kevin Costner has not returned to close out the end of season five, many others have saddled up again. Luke Grimes has his cowboy boots back on to star again as John Dutton’s son Kayce Dutton.
Keilly Reilly, who plays hellcat Beth Dutton, confirmed on July 20 she was on set with a video as she wrote, ‘The group of people that continue to make this wild show make it with all their hearts and guts, I’m so deeply proud to be running alongside them. The rawness and beauty of this year’s season is really something. Can’t wait to share it in November.’
Others who are back on the ranch: Cole Hauser as Rip Wheeler, Jen Landon as Teeter, Jake Ream as Jake, Ian Bohen as Ryan, Denim Richards as Colby, Forrie J Smith as Lloyd Pierce, Dawn Olivieri as Sarah Atwood, and Finn Little as Rip’s son Carter.
The last few episodes of season five of Yellowstone kick off on November 10, 2024.
Brecken Merrill, who plays the son of Luke Grimes’ Kayce Dutton and Kelsey Asbille’s Monica Dutton, is also on set shooting scenes, though Luke and Kelsey have not been spied yet.
Brecken, 16, shared a photo of a director’s chair that said Yellowstone on the back with a cowboy hat hanging off of it.
‘It’s a dirty job but somebody’s gotta do it,’ wrote Merrill in his caption. And last week he added, ‘November premiere date – put it in your calendar and start planning the viewing party.’
Gil Birmingham, who stars as Tribal Chairman Thomas Rainwater, will also be filming along with Mo Brings Plenty.
Wendy Moniz, who played the Governor of Montana, is also shootings scenes.
Scenes were shot at a home on East Beckwith and Gerald Avenue in Missoula, DailyMail.com has learned.
There has also been filming at the Chief Joseph Ranch. The 2,500-acre working cattle ranch in Darby, Montana serves as the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch in the show.
Many of the actors have been seen practicing lassoing and riding at Chief Joseph Ranch.
Hauser has already shared photos from Montana where he has been filming the modern Western series since late May: ‘Good morning Montana, I’ve missed ya old friend! If you are going to rise, you might as well shine.’
Smith, who plays a cattle hand on the show, is also back filming more scenes alongside Hauser and Bingham. He confirmed his return months ago.
Wes Bentley and Kelly Reilly are also expected to be in the last few episodes of season five, but not Kevin Costner, who has said recently he will not film any more scenes.
It is not yet known if Ryan’s new wife Hassie Harrison, who plays barrel racer Laramie on the show, will have any scenes.
Lainey Wilson has said that she is not sure if she is going back to Yellowstone, where she played musician Abby. Her music was also used on the series.
Wilson has said many times she would love to shoot more scenes for the series.
Piper Perabo shared images from Montana earlier in June suggesting she will return as Costner’s love interest Summer Higgins.
But because Costner will not be shooting any more scenes for the show, it is likely Perabo won’t either.
Or she may just be accompanying her husband Stephen Kay, who is a writer on the show.
The popular series will return on November 10, 2024.
Paramount Network announced on June 20 that Yellowstone will make its much-anticipated return on Sunday, November 10 at 8pm ET/PT.
Internationally, Yellowstone will premiere on Paramount+ in Canada on November 10th, the U.K. on November 11th and in Latin America, Brazil and France later in November.
Yellowstone chronicles the Dutton family who controls the largest contiguous cattle ranch in the United States.
Amid shifting alliances, unsolved murders, open wounds, and hard-earned respect – the ranch is in constant conflict with those it borders – an expanding town, an Indian reservation, and America’s first national park.
Yellowstone is co-created by Sheridan and John Linson.
In May Costner shared some insights into his role on the show to GQ.
The Oscar-winning star maintained that he told creator Sheridan he would help end the series, but no scripts have ever come his way.
And Costner also said that he and Taylor have a ‘private’ reason for not going forward, hinting they have disagreements over how the show should end.
But the star, who is promoting his new movie Horizon, said that he wants to help end the Dutton saga for the sake of the ‘audience.’
Just hours after Kevin’s GQ interview surfaced, Paramount Network announced that Yellowstone had already started production on the end of season five and was currently filming in Montana.
Yellowstone premiered in 2018 and has since attracted as many as 10 million viewers.
On the show, Costner plays John Dutton III, who fights to save his ranch; he has been compared to a Godfather character because he uses murder to keep his businesses and family together.
The show needs an ending, but there has been talk that Kevin was too busy or wanted too much money or wanted too much say to get it done.
He has told GQ that he has tried. ‘That’s kind of my Western ethic,’ he said. ‘I’ve been quiet about the whole thing and I’ve taken a beating out there. My castmates are confused. The crew was confused.’
He shared that he only did Horizon because he wanted to work more, and he felt he could do Horizon and Yellowstone at the same time. ‘I’ve always wanted to do this movie,’ Costner said, ‘and I was doing Yellowstone. I love Yellowstone.’
Costner said he was so committed to Yellowstone that he renegotiated from his original three-season deal for as many as seven total seasons.
But there were delays from COVID, the writers’ strike, and ‘further disagreements about scheduling,’ said GQ.
‘We very rarely started when we said we would and we didn’t finish when we said we would,’ said Costner. ‘And I was okay with that. I really was. I was okay with it, but it wasn’t a trend that could continue for me.’
So he worked on Horizon.
Then Yellowstone proposed splitting the fifth season of the show into two parts. ‘And their big plan was to suddenly do eight now and then in the fall do eight more,’ Costner said.
‘I said, “I have a contract to do Horizon, and I have people and money.” I think there was a belief that I couldn’t get it mounted, but I didn’t really care what anybody believed.’