Kevin Costner explains why Horizon flopping doesn’t matter

Christopher Baggett
Kevin Costner as Hayes Ellison in Horizon: An American Saga, riding a horse

Western epic Horizon: An American Saga has proven to be a flop at the box office, but Yellowstone star Kevin Costner isn’t concerned about the film’s dismal opening weekend.

Horizon: An American Saga hit over 3,000 theaters this past weekend for an $11 million opening weekend box office. According to Box Office Mojo, that puts it in a distant third behind A Quiet Place: Day One, also in its opening weekend, which earned $53 million.

Horizon’s $11 million also looks dire compared to #4 on the list, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, which only earned about $700,000 less in its fourth week.

Horizon: An American Saga is, by all traditional metrics, an absolute flop in its first week in theaters. Director and Yellowstone star Kevin Costner isn’t sweating it, though, telling Entertainment Weekly people are putting too much pressure on the opening weekend.

“I’ve lived with movies and what happens to them on their opening weekend,” Costner said. “If we put so much pressure on that, we’re bound to be disappointed. I’m really happy that Horizon looks like what it’s supposed to look like, and that’s the way it’ll look the rest of its life. And that’s really important to me in this process.”

Horizon has been a long labor of love for Costner, who tried filming the project as far back as 1988. The film reportedly cost $100 million to make, and Costner revealed he’d invested around $38 million in it himself.

Despite the setback, Costner seems to be content with just having gotten the film out as intended.

“Would I love that it would be highly, highly successful? Of course, I’d like that. My ego would like that; everyone would like that. But I am happiest that the movie that you and I are talking about looks the way I want it to look.”

If you’re a fan of Horizon and Yellowstone, you can check out our guide to every Yellowstone cameo in Horizon. You can also find out how to watch Horizon: An American Saga and see why we think Yellowstone proves cowboys should cry more.