The four-part film has been a hot topic in relation to both his very public divorce and exit from ‘Yellowstone’
Kevin Costner is going all-in on Horizon: An American Saga — but what about this passion project has caused him to invest millions of his own money and leave his massively popular comeback vehicle Yellowstone?
Costner made an unforgettable directorial debut with 1990’s Dances With Wolves, scoring a box office smash and earning Oscars for Best Director and Picture. Now, 20 years after his last filmmaking effort, Open Range, Costner is returning with another western epic, Horizon, which he plans to split into four films.
“Horizon is incredibly meaningful to me,” he told People in November 2022. “It’s really been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s exactly what I want to do. I wrapped this first one, and it took everything I had, but I’m holding on to the rope and not letting go. In my career, I’ve tried to choose not based on what was popular. I made the films I wanted to make.”
A massive undertaking, as he serves as writer, director, producer and star, Horizon has already made headlines, beginning with Costner deciding he wanted to reduce his Yellowstone duties in favor of the project, eventually leading to the announcement that the Paramount Network hit will conclude with the upcoming second half of its fifth season. “His movie seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus,” Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan said. “I sure hope [the movie is] worth it — and that it’s a good one.”
And now, Horizon and Costner’s Yellowstone departure has become a big talking point in the messy divorce proceedings between Costner and his estranged wife, Christine Baumgartner. In a recent filing with the California Superior Court, attorneys for Baumgartner alleged that Costner is concealing documents about his earnings and “withholding” information on his “anticipated income” related to Horizon.
With all that drama, let’s see what is on the horizon when it comes to Horizon.
What is Horizon?
Set to chronicle a multi-faceted, 15-year span of pre-and post-Civil War expansion and settlement of the American West, here is how Costner describes Horizon: “America’s expansion into the West was one that was fraught with peril and intrigue from the natural elements, to the interactions with the indigenous peoples who lived on the land, and the determination and at many times ruthlessness of those who sought to settle it. Horizon tells the story of that journey in an honest and forthcoming way, highlighting the points of view and consequences of the characters’ life and death decisions.
In a separate interview with Variety last June, he added, “They’re all different films that all connect, so you’re watching a saga of these storylines that are happening. It’s a really beautiful story; it’s a hard story. It really involves a lot of women, to be honest. There are a lot of men in it, too, but the women are really strong in Horizon. It’s just them trying to get by every day in a world that was impossibly tough. They were often [dragged] out to these places because that’s where the men wanted to go; women were following their men. They didn’t ask to be in these territories that were unsettled and dangerous, and life wasn’t easy. I’ve chosen to make sure that was really obvious, that that wasn’t easy, and how vulnerable people were.”
Who is in Horizon?
Costner has boasted that Horizon will feature roughly 170 speaking parts, and he’s already put together a deep cast. Among those starring opposite Costner are Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jamie Campbell Bower, Luke Wilson, Thomas Haden Church, Jena Malone, Will Patton, Alejandro Edda, Tatanka Means, Michael Rooker, Isabelle Fuhrman, Ella Hunt, Tom Payne, Abbey Lee, Wasé Chief, Tim Guinee, Michael Angarano, Colin Cunningham, Scott Haze, Angus Macfadyen, Douglas Smith, Jon Beaver, Glynn Turman, Kathleen Quinlan, Giovanni Ribisi and Costner and Baumgartner’s teenage son, Hayes. “He’s very good,” Costner told People
How far along is production on Horizon?
Costner completed filming on the first Horizon installment in 2022 and returned to work on the second film in May 2023. “The epic that keeps getting more epic,” he wrote on Instagram. A few weeks later, he shared another update: “We’re deep into the production of #HorizonFilm, and I have to tell you, I haven’t felt this way about a movie since we were making Dances With Wolves. Can’t wait to share it with all of you.” With the SAG-AFTRA strike beginning on July 14, it’s unclear how much of Pt. 2 is already completed.
When will Horizon be released?
While Costner has expressed a hope that Horizon will debut in the fall of 2023, there’s currently no confirmed release date for any of the films, although he has said that his plan is for a new one to come out “about every three months.” It should be noted that the distributor, Warner Bros., recently bumped a different pricey, star-studded project, Dune 2, to 2024 due to the ongoing strikes.
How much money has Costner invested in Horizon?
According to his legal filings in his divorce proceedings, Costner has invested $20 million of his own money into the production.
“Pursuant to contractual commitments I entered into through my production company long before Christine filed for divorce, I contributed $5 million in April 2022 and $15 million in August 2022 (the planned/actual start of photography),” Costner wrote. “The funds were set aside from income received by my Tig Films production company and thus were not available to me personally.”
He added, “I have a long history of financing my own feature films, beginning with the movie Dances With Wolves nearly 30 years ago. I am starting in, writing, producing and directing Horizon, but my compensation is deferred as part of the investment structure. I do not expect to receive any money in 2023 from Horizon.”
How has Horizon impacted Costner’s divorce?
Not only is Costner’s investment and potential earnings in the film relevant to the financial side of the divorce proceedings as he and Baumgartner sort out child support and the terms of their prenuptial agreement, but it’s also played a role in their housing dispute.
One of the most contentious aspects of the divorce so far has been Baumgartner’s living situation. Costner wants her out of their formerly shared home and has asserted that, according to their prenup, she had one month to vacate the premises following her divorce filing. While attorneys for Baumgartner have claimed the actor has no legal basis to kick her out, Costner has argued her presence in the Santa Barbara compound is impeding his work on Horizon.
“As detailed in Kevin’s accompanying Declaration, Christine’s stubborn refusal to leave his home materially impacts his ability to work on his current Horizon multi-film project, which is in the post-production phase as to the first two films of a projected four films,” his attorneys wrote in legal filings. “His editors are already on-site at the Beach Club property working; he needs to be there. Every day Kevin is not there is a day completion of the Horizon I film is delayed.”