Kevin Costner spoke at a Venice Film Festival press conference on Saturday about the cancellation of the theatrical release of his second movie, “Horizon,” saying it was “probably a reaction to the first one not doing very well at the box office.”
“It wasn’t a huge success,” Costner said of the first film, “and in that sense, there are a lot of movies that have stood the test of time.”
He added that it was “the studio’s decision” to release “Chapter Two” six weeks after “Chapter One,” and “it was the studio’s decision not to do that.” But Costner insisted that it all worked out for the best, since he was able to screen “Horizon 2” in Venice.
“For me, it worked out exactly as I planned, which is always to release a film every five or six months, so I could come to Venice,” he said. “If it had already been released, it would never have come because it wouldn’t be shown in Venice.”
He thanked Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera for being “the main reason this happened.”
“Alberto made my dream come true by bringing this here and I’m not going to let him crush it,” he said, adding, “Damn it, Venice keeps coming to my rescue!”
“Horizon 2” was a last-minute addition to the Venice Film Festival’s lineup, with news breaking on July 31 that it would premiere in a non-competitive section on the festival’s final day. Earlier that month, the U.S. release of “Chapter 2” was pulled from its Aug. 16 release date after the first film in the series, which cost approximately $100 million to make, only grossed $11 million in its opening weekend.
However, these setbacks only made him “more motivated” to continue with what he intends to be a four-part series.
“Sometimes when things go wrong, we just want to run away. But there’s something inside me that only intensifies my desire when things go wrong,” Costner said. “I think this is a story, and it’s entertainment that will stand the test of time. Unlike anyone else, when I feel rejection, when I open my eyes from disappointment, my desire only intensifies.”
When asked if “Horizon” contains any lessons for the current situation in America with the presidential election approaching, Costner replied, “It’s not a political message to anybody.”
“‘Horizon’ is not a message to my country, it’s a reminder to my country how difficult it has been for people to make this journey,” he said.
Costner returns to direct and star in “Chapter 2,” which reprises its cast alongside Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone and Danny Huston. The film continues the first chapter of the epic, billed as a multifaceted portrayal of the expansion and settlement of the American West during the Civil War. In addition to directing and starring, Costner co-wrote the film with John Baird (“The Explorers Guild”) and produced through his Territory Pictures company.
Horizon is planned as a four-part series, with two more films in development, and principal photography on Chapter 3 is scheduled to begin in May and wrap up next year.
After the press conference, Costner revealed that he has completed scripts for all the films in the “Horizon” series, and that “Chapter 3” will be “mind-blowing.”
“When you get to know all these people, you see that life keeps throwing things at them,” he said.
Regarding making the third movie, Costner said, “We have to hurry, lest the rock fall downhill again. We have to put our hands on it again and start pushing it up.”
But the future of Horizon seems unclear: “Right now I don’t know how I’m going to make Three,” he says, “but I’m definitely going to make it.”
