Why Kevin Costner ‘Made a Promise’ To Continue With ‘Horizon’ Despite Its Box Office Disappointment

Kevin Costner is down, but not out. After the box-office disappointment of Horizon: An American Saga, Part One , the 69-year-old actor isn’t giving up on his four-part franchise dream. He’s doubling down that the movie series will find an audience and they will finally understand his vision once it’s completed.

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Costner shared with Today why he’s persevering despite the abysmal $11 million opening weekend in June. “I made a promise to myself, I’m trying desperately to keep it and to bring it to people, these kind of giant stories, and I hope that people fall in love with these characters,” he explained. Calling Horizon “the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” the Field of Dreams star believes that each chapter will get even better for the audience.

“I love this movie,” he gushed. “I love the second one — and the third one’s even harder than the first two, and the fourth one completes the story.” The second chapter was yanked from the summer movie schedule, but it received a lifeline from the Venice Film Festival, which will screen parts one and two in September. Festival curator Alberto Barbera said in a statement to Variety that Horizon was a “late addition to the lineup, but they are honored to “pay a heartfelt and respectful tribute to the visionary project of a great actor and director.”

Costner still has the financial burden to deal with after investing $38 million of his own fortune into the franchise. A Life & Style insider claimed that he was “ in a world of pain ” after audiences failed to show up for his film. “For all his bravado, he’s terrified Horizon will bleed him dry, and he’ll lose a huge chunk of savings,” they revealed. Costner was warned by his accountant not to invest his own money in the films, and finance expert Eric Schiffer told Fox Business ahead of the film’s release that it was a bad move.

Schiffer believed that Costner’s investment was a “threat” to his estate because it was “ the financial kiss of death. ” He thinks that Costner’s wish to have audiences view four parts of a film in one day is unreasonable. “When you think of binging, and you do it perhaps at the house, you’re alone. You have privacy, you have perhaps your loved ones and the ability to break and do other things,” he noted. “To sit in a movie theater, even if there’s a small intermission, it sounds like Costner needs to be paying people to go.”

Schiffer may not believe in the director’s vision, but Costner is still buying into his dream.

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