Yellowstone’s Season 5 return date has been revealed, but it’s a little bit of bad news for series star Kevin Costner. Paramount Network recently announced that Yellowstone won’t return until November 2024. Unfortunately for Costner, this means he won’t be able to promote his new multi-part movie Horizon: An American Epic during the season, due to both Chapters 1 and 2 being released over the summer in 2024, months before the highly anticipated conclusion to Yellowstone.
Horizon is a passion project for Costner, as it is a planned series of Western films that he stars in, co-wrote, produced, and directed. The films are set in pre- and post-Civil War America, and depict the expansion of the American West. Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 is set to open in theaters on June 28, 2024, with Chapter 2 debuting just weeks later, on Aug. 16, 2024, with two more installments on the docket as well.
According to Puck, these films are a major risk for a couple of correlated reasons: The budget per movie is estimated at around $100 million each, a risky price, especially since Costner has not directed a film since 2003’s Open Range. That film had a budget of $22 million but earned only $68 million at the box office. Puck notes that if, for any reason, Horizon – Chapter 1 is a flop, that almost certainly dooms Chapter 2 to be a flop as well.
Furthermore, the film’s distributor, Warner Bros., has done little to share any of the costs. In order to try and minimize the risks to WB, Puck reports, “Costner and his Horizon investors have agreed to shell out the P&A (marketing and releasing costs) for both Horizons.” As far as Warner Bros. involvement, the outlet states they have “very little skin in this game” and are simply distributing the film domestically for a fee, with foreign distribution still up for grabs. Puck also estimates that marketing on a film like Horizon would cost somewhere between $40 million or $50 million, but adds that Chapter 2 would likely not have the same level of cost, as the Chapter 1 marketing would have some crossover.
In addition to Costner, Horizon: An American Saga features a hefty cast of acclaimed actors, such as Thomas Haden Church, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Will Patton, Tatanka Means, Owen Crow Shoe, Ella Hunt and Jamie Campbell Bower. Chapter 2 will add Glynn Turman, Kathleen Quinlan, and Giovanni Ribisi. Horizon – Chapter 3 was in production but was forced to halt due to the writers and actors strike.
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