Kevin Costner’s ‘Horizon’ Co-Star Michael Rooker Defends Film’s Early Box Office Struggles: “Real Cinema… Not TikTok Crap”

Kevin Costner isn't taking any crap about the box office struggles for Horizon: An American Saga , and neither are his co-stars. Unfortunately for Costner and the crew behind Horizon , the first chapter of what is supposed to be a four-part series got off to a rocky start. In it's first weekend, the film only brought in $11 million . According to reports, the first installment cost around $100 million to make and $30 million to market. That might sound the alarms for some, but not for Costner. Despite allegedly putting forth $38 million of his own money - so far - towards the film series, the 69-year-old actor and director is staying level-headed about the early box office struggles. He spoke to Variety and said that a movie's success is determined by more than just its first couple of days in theaters: "I’ve lived with movies and what happens to them on their opening weekend… 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." The main gripe with the first movie is that it's painfully long and really doesn't do much other than set the stage for the rest of the saga... it doesn't really live on its own. But it sounds like that was exactly what Kevin and company were aiming to do... simply set the stage and introduce the characters. But Kevin isn't the only one that has the back of Horizon: An American Saga . Costner's co-star Michael Rooker (who you might recognize from The Walking Dead, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more) got stopped by TMZ in Los Angeles, and surprisingly, he was happy to talk about his latest movie. Rooker was first asked about the struggles, but he decided to rather talk about the grand scope of the project, and first chapter's three hour runtime. And by that, I mean Rooker took shots at people (particularly younger folks) with shorter attention spans: "It's real cinema folks, so be prepared. We ain't used to that sh*t. You know? We're used to 90 minute movies. Everything is 90 minutes? Oh come on, give me a break. Get over that sh*t. You know, let’s watch a movie that actually tells a story, where you learn about the people and you grow to like them or hate them, and it’s not fast cut-cut-cut." If you didn't think he was talking about young people in that quote, there's really no way to deny it in his next one. The TMZ reporter asked if TikTok was to blame for people not going to see Horizon: An American Saga (by the way, it's always TikTok's fault), and Rooker happily jumped all over the TikTok crowd: "They got to get over that TikTok crap. They've got to learn what it's like to watch real cinema. Please." TikTok would like a word... Rooker was then asked about Costner's exit from Yellowstone , and he didn't have a lot of patience when it came to that. He described it as a typical actor or actress' life: They have a part, they do it, then they don't have the part. Simple as that, and that's all that happened with Kevin and Yellowstone ... at least according to Michael Rooker. The former Guardians of the Galaxy and Walking Dead star then beautifully deflected back to Horizon , and gave what is quite possibly the best recommendation that Costner and the rest of the crew behind the film could have asked for: "He is brilliant in this. He’s a brilliant director, and he has the ability to pick absolutely the cream of the crop. Go see the movie. You'll enjoy it. Go to the bathroom before you go in." Bathroom break before Horizon ... noted. You can hear more from Michael Rooker in the up-close-and-personal TMZ interview below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYZGdqIVOZI