We break down the steps Kevin Costner needs to take to recoup the millions he put into his epic, « Horizon, » after a lackluster first weekend at the box office.
With Kevin Costner’s epic three-hour Western « Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 » only making $11 million its opening weekend in theaters, it’s going to be a long road for the Oscar winner to recoup the money he put into it.
Costner, who directed, produced, and stars in the project and is one of its main financiers, had been developing the multi-part saga set in the American West for decades.
After years of development at Warner Bros., which once considered sending the movie directly to its streaming service Max, Costner threw caution to the wind and decided to self-finance not just one « Horizon » movie, but potentially four.
To get « Horizon » made, the former « Yellowstone » star mortgaged his property in Santa Barbara and invested $38 million of his own money. (It’s unclear if that number refers to the cost to make the first two installments, which were shot back-to-back, or just the first film.) Costner and his other undisclosed financial backers are also covering the film’s marketing, which Variety estimates cost $30 million, though it’s unclear if that’s an additional sum or included in Costner’s own $38 million estimate.
With Warner Bros. working strictly as a distribution partner, Costner has bet on himself: According to the trade, Warner is only taking 8% of the movie’s box office gross.
But will the self-finance route pay off for the star? One industry insider told Business Insider they were skeptical: « He won’t lose his house, but he’s potentially going to lose a lot of money. »Foreign presales helped reduce Costner’s risk
Thank god for Cannes.
The South of France is home to one of the most famous film festivals in the world.
