Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 has failed to become a hit at the box office, but it still managed to avoid a horrible Kevin Costner record. The first of four planned Westerns in an epic saga came out in theaters in July 2024 to a tepid reception. Despite Costner left Yellowstone to make the passion project that took decades and millions of his own money to become real, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1’s release failed to generate much excitement from general audiences.
Costner worked with Warner Bros. to get the first two Horizon: An American Saga movies theatrical releases, and there was some optimism that his star power would help revitalize the Western genre on the big screen with a significant hit. Instead, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 has only made $25.2 million at the box office. This is well below what Costner and Warner Bros. would have hoped for, and it puts the movie closer to the bottom of the actor/director’s highest-grossing movies. There is one silver lining, though, as Horizon did not break a terrible box office record.
Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 Isn’t The Lowest-Grossing Movie Kevin Costner Directed
A 1997 Western Holds The Record
The good news for Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1’s box office is that the movie will not set a new record for Kevin Costner as the lowest-grossing movie he’s directed. The film’s $25 million global haul to this point is a far cry from the biggest movies that he’s directed, much less those he appeared in as an actor. But, Horizon: An American Saga still got lucky enough to surpass Kevin Coster’s lowest-grossing movie as a director, The Postman. The 1997 Western movie only made $20 million at the box office.
The Postman’s performance at the box office was surprising considering how well Kevin Costner’s directorial debut, Dances With Wolves, did. The 3-hour 1990 movie made $424 million worldwide on its way to becoming a seven-time Oscar winner, including Best Picture. It was expected that whatever Kevin Costner did next as a director could have a similarly massive response, both critically and financially. There was hope that Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 could be a return to form in both regards, but that was not the case.
What Went Wrong With The Postman’s Box Office
There Was Major Competition For Costner
The Postman’s box office did not come close to living up to expectations. The post-apocalyptic neo-Western was made with a reported budget of $80 million. That cost made sense considering the high Costner was on after Dances With Wolves and the thinking that The Postman could continue his box office hot streak from the early 1990s. Plenty of interest was wiped away by the harsh critical reception to the film, which has a 14% on Rotten Tomatoes. But, it also did not help that The Postman came out during a very competitive time at the box office.
The Postman hit theaters on Christmas Day in 1997, putting it directly against Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, the sequel An American Werewolf In Paris, and Disney’s Mr. Magoo. All three of those movies outgrossed The Postman domestically, with Costner’s movie only topping Mr. Magoo in the opening weekend. Competition also existed well beyond the three new releases, as James Cameron’s Titanic and Pierce Brosnan’s sequel Tomorrow Never Dies came out days earlier. With so much competition from more well-received titles, The Postman’s box office chances crumbled.
Horizon: An American Saga Still Joins The Postman As Kevin Costner Box Office Failures
Both Westerns Failed To Make A Profit
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 might have avoided setting a new record low for movies directed by Kevin Costner at the box office, but it still belongs in the same category as The Postman in terms of being box office failures. Dances With Wolves is easily the most successful movie that Costner directed, as it was made on a small budget before becoming a box office phenomenon. Open Range was far from the same sized hit, but with a reported budget in the low $20 million range, it still turned a profit after making nearly $70 million.
That leaves Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 and The Postman as the two movies Kevin Costner directed that were not box office hits. The Postman lost tens of millions of dollars thanks to its poor performance. Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 is also poised to lose a significant amount of money, dooming Kevin Costner’s Western franchise. Hopefully, the sequel also manages to avoid becoming Kevin Costner’s lowest-grossing movie as a director.