Sienna Miller and Sam Worthington discuss the first installment of the hefty multimillion-dollar Western epic, which was often filmed “guerrilla-style” like an indie.
Everything is epic about actor-director Kevin Costner’s epic western film series, Horizon: An American Saga, from the vision to the physical script.
“It broke the desk when we put them on there because of the weight”, Sienna Miller revealed with a laugh as we discussed the first entry in the tetralogy. “They were huge. When I got them, I thought it must be a TV series because all four scripts were so dense and thoughtful and had beautiful dialogue. They were unlike anything I’d ever seen before. It was a long read, so I broke it up a little. I’m being honest. You couldn’t do those four in one sitting.”
The first entry, Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter One, will land in theaters on Friday, June 28, 2024. Costner, Miller, and Sam Worthington lead a stellar ensemble cast tasked with telling the multifaceted story that spans 15 years and chronicles the pre-and post-Civil War expansion and settlement of the American West. Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter One is not available to stream.
While Westerns and musicals were the cornerstone genres of Hollywood’s golden age, they can sometimes be a hard sell for modern audiences. That said, Worthington believes if anyone can engage them, Costner can.
“The weirdest, or the greatest, perspective Kevin has with Horizon is that there’s a novelistic approach to it. When I read it, it felt like a Dickens novel; there were so many characters”, the Avatar actor enthused. “Horizon is the main character, this town or ideal that they’re seeking, and that’s a very interesting way in because it’s not your general Western. It’s more like you’re looking at the humanity of how America was formed, from all different sides, from the Indigenous side to the early settlers, so taking that approach allows audiences into it more than it being genre-driven or plot-driven. It’s a journey movie.”
While Costner, who also co-wrote the quadrilogy, mortgaged his California estate to fund the $100 million a piece project, production was more akin to an indie film, so the cast and crew hustled to make every cent count.
