When Stars Go Indie: Kevin Costner Rides into the "Horizon" Saga

There is a special place in our hearts for filmmakers who put their money where their mouth is. The status quo paints them as reckless daredevils, squandering fortunes - their fortunes - to chase the high of making a movie. You don't make movies with your coin! That's what studios, producers, and capitalists are for. But those riches come with strings attached. If you want to make a movie your way, you must pay.

Consider Francis Ford Coppola. After getting burned way too many times, we created his studio. When it tanked, he became a winery impresario. Occasionally, he would regal his followers with a small indie movie, more experiment than product. Decades later, he sold his wine business to finance his dream project, the political allegory "Megalopolis." Complete independence cost him $120 million, give or take. The movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Although it took a while to find a US distributor, Lionsgate is bringing it to theaters in late September.

Is it good? The movie received mixed reviews, but that's beside the point. What's essential is that Coppola did the movie he wanted to make. Executives and audiences be damned. However, his plan had a weak point. Like any self-respecting elder of cinema, Coppola intends to show his movie in a movie theater. While VOD and streaming might make the endeavor profitable, the big screen remains the natural habitat of these grand visions. What would Coppola have done if Lionsgate had not stepped into the ring? He may have distributed it alone if he still had any money left. Indie distribution is not just for beginners!

The Wild, Tall Tale of "Yellowstone"

Are cowboys still a thing? No, if you look at the studio's slate. Yes, if you look towards streaming. Paramount+ struck gold with "Yellowstone," Taylor Sheridan's contemporary western revival about John Dutton (Kevin Costner), a grizzled frontier businessman struggling to save his ranch, facing rivals, Native Americans, and the encroaching government aiming to turn his land into a park. The first season came in 2018. Ratings were nothing to write home about, but it was popular enough to get renewed.

Something changed in 2020, thanks to the covid pandemic. Hunkering at home was the only way to survive. "Yellowstone" thrived when audiences trapped in their houses suddenly had time to binge and catch up, with the third season looming. Success brought along a string of spinoffs, with the irresistible hook of traveling back in time to tell the story of the pioneers of Dutton's ancestors.

Sheridan was canny at recruiting Kevin Costner to play John Dutton, the patriarch. Costner may be the last great cowboy of American cinema. His career peaked in 1990, when his directorial debut, "Dances with Wolves," was the blockbuster hit of the fall. Come Oscar time, he won 7 awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. With diminished returns, Costner returned to the western with "Wyatt Earp" (Lawrence Kasdan, 1994). His star power was fading by the time he directed and starred in "Open Range" (2003). Alas, the mystique is hard to shake. Putting Costner back on a horse was a brilliant casting coup. I did not jump on the "Yellowstone" train, so I can't attest to its quality.

Trouble on the TV Range

By 2022, Costner was eyeing going back to the west. "Horizon" was envisioned as a cycle of 4 movies, with a large cast of characters and epic in scope, following settlers, native tribes, and soldiers clashing over years. The catch was that Paramount - and audiences - were clamoring for more "Yellowstone." Scheduling both projects to satisfy all parties was almost impossible. Even worse, reports of Costner chafing under Sheridan's unruly production practices started to seep into the trades. Something had to give.

And so, John Dutton will ride into the sunset in the second half of season five, set for premiere later in 2024. Don't despair, "Yellowstone" fans. Sheridan has a plethora of content down the pipeline. If only we knew when they would come. There's a second season of "1923," the spinoff led by Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren as the Duttons' forefathers. There's also two more series greenlit: "1944" and "2024." By the time "2024" premieres, it might be a period piece. As of now, there is yet to be a set date for production to commence. Once "Yellowstone" ends in early 2025, nobody knows how long it will take to get another fix. There could be something to the stories about Sheridan presiding over chaos in the writers' room and the set.

Costner Rides into the "Yellowstone" Sunset

In a duel between "Yellowstone" and "Horizon," it's easy to see why Costner chose the latter. He had been harboring the idea since the late '80s. No doubt, funds from his TV success helped him to foot the bill. Costner invested $83 million of his money in the project, plus undisclosed amounts from unknown investors.

The first of the projected four movies premiered at the Cannes Film Festival—apparently, the preferred event of mad geniuses burning their own money. New Line Cinema got on board to distribute, with plans to open Part 1 on June 28 and Part 2 on August 16. It was going to be a Kevin Costner Summer.

And then, it was not. The movie barely earned over $11 million on its first weekend in theaters. Arriving in the glut of commercial summer movies, it lost prime screens to "A Quiet Place: Day One" and "Despicable Me 4."  As its run ended, it made over $30 million worldwide sales. When it rains, it pours. The sobering number tinted with despair the news that Part 2 would not open on August 16. According to media reports, it remains on the release slate, with no date set for release. 

It feels like a slap in the face. However, the party line is that Costner's Territory Pictures and New Line Cinema arrived at the decision together, betting on Part 1 finding a bigger audience on home video. It came at POVD on August 16. You can buy it on Amazon Prime and Apple TV. One can only wish all those people who catch it in the comfort of their homes will go outside the house when Part 2 hits theaters. 

But is that a good thing? Costner's vision demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible, but if we go by Part 1's luck, it's unlikely to get them. Multiplexes reserve their best, biggest auditoriums for sure things - see "Despicable Me Part 4" -. Worse yet, there is no guarantee you'll get a decent show. I saw "Horizon: Part 1" at my local AMC in one of its tiniest theaters. The sound was muddy, and a bluish tone marred the image. I've seen several movies in that theater, and no amount of feedback and complaints have got them to do something about it. Cinematographer J. Michael Muro would cry. Or tear his eyeballs out. 

Then again, it might be a good idea to clear Episode 2 off August 16. It's going to be a blood bath. There is enthusiastic word of mouth around M. Night Shyamalan's "Trap." Fede Alvarez's "Alien: Romulus" will benefit from a hefty promotional budget. And there's also Eli Roth's "Borderlands," a star-studded adaptation of a popular video game coming after many delays. 

What if the Pioneers Go Indie All the Way?

It's hard to judge "Horizon," considering it is a quarter of a very long movie. With so many characters and narrative strands in motion, some fall off the radar - the virtual disappearance of Jena Malone's Ellen feels like a dereliction of duty. Furthermore, Costner's straightforward visual approach seems utilitarian, miles away from what he did in "Dances with Wolves." During the press tour, he said the project was "sold as an event television movie," you see that in its mise-en-scene.

Still, we don't watch movies on the big screen just for beautiful prairie views, special effects, hordes of extras, or larger-than-life action set pieces. Actors regal us with the most human spectacles, emotions flashing through their eyes as they suffocate words they should say or face a fate they did not see coming. Sienna Miller does beautiful work as a frontier widow forced to remake her life. Sam Worthington plays a bashful cavalryman with ease that makes you lament the CGI blue costume that covered him in "Avatar." 

What to do if New Line leaves Coster high and dry? If you already burned through your money to make your movie, why not innovate in distribution? Bring back the roadshow release and turn the film into an actual event. Make deals with independent art houses that still have a human being operating the projector and ensure that the image looks as the director intended. Once the tour is over, by all means, drop the whole thing on streaming. It's doubtful such a thing would happen, but one can only dream.   

Parting Words

Take heart, fans of Horizons. Costner finished Part 2, and it will be released. Part 3 is halfway through shooting, and there is a script for Part 4. So, it looks like we will have closure. It is no small thing. The box office stands over the ghosts of truncated franchises, but they tend to be underperforming superhero flicks or "young adult" book adaptations. Every great filmmaker has dream projects that have withered in the production pipeline. Perhaps they died in the crib, strangled by executives - David Lynch's salvage operation of "Mulholland Drive" (2001) is one of the few happy endings in this particular kind of Hollywood nightmare. One thing is sure in the curious case of "Horizon." It's unlikely that Costner will recoup his $38 million. And he doesn't mind one bit.