Horizon Part 1 | Kevin Costner-directed Western | June 28, 2024

[TheDude391]

I'm an easy mark for this movie (big western head) and I loved it, very much up my alley!

 

I read some reviews call it "Twin Peaks The Return" for dads and...yes that's accurate. Structurally it's similar to The Return, it's paced like the first 1/4 of ONE long movie. All set up, no payoff yet but Part 2 is in Aug so the wait isn't too long to start seeing plotlines converge. Like there are plot lines and characters being introduced 2+ hours in bc it's not structured like a normal movie and there are SO many characters and stories (some still haven't been introduced yet...teased in the Chapter 2 sizzle reel at the end).

 

I found the storylines intriguing and the tease of what's next looks very cool and grand. Loooooved the look and ambience of it, peak western vibes, I was on cloud nine for much of this just basking in the vibes. The 3 hours just flew by for me.

 

Spoiler

The ending was super bizarre, it starts as a wrap up montage before quickly transitioning to a sizzle reel of Chapter 2 that keeps going and going and going and then...Directed by Kevin Costner, roll credits. No "To Be Continued" or mention of "Chapter 2" or any of that, I can imagine some audiences unaware of the release structure being utterly baffled by it.

 

[Insomnia]

1 hour ago, TheDude391 said:

I'm an easy mark for this movie (big western head) and I loved it, very much up my alley!

 

I read some reviews call it "Twin Peaks The Return" for dads and...yes that's accurate. Structurally it's similar to The Return, it's paced like the first 1/4 of ONE long movie. All set up, no payoff yet but Part 2 is in Aug so the wait isn't too long to start seeing plotlines converge. Like there are plot lines and characters being introduced 2+ hours in bc it's not structured like a normal movie and there are SO many characters and stories (some still haven't been introduced yet...teased in the Chapter 2 sizzle reel at the end).

 

I found the storylines intriguing and the tease of what's next looks very cool and grand. Loooooved the look and ambience of it, peak western vibes, I was on cloud nine for much of this just basking in the vibes. The 3 hours just flew by for me.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

The ending was super bizarre, it starts as a wrap up montage before quickly transitioning to a sizzle reel of Chapter 2 that keeps going and going and going and then...Directed by Kevin Costner, roll credits. No "To Be Continued" or mention of "Chapter 2" or any of that, I can imagine some audiences unaware of the release structure being utterly baffled by it.

 

Sounds like I'm going to love it! Seeing it tomorrow.

[MrHardapple]

Can't wait!!!

[PrinceRico]

The good news about this flopping is that it should be on streaming in about 2 weeks. 

[PlatnumRoyce]

I wasn't expecting such a weak showing but if previews match final results, this is going to look somewhat like the other recent big budget historical film that critics claimed was functionally an HBO miniseries disguised as a film - 2017's Free State of Jones staring McConaughy and which opened to 7.5M (365k previews) and has a 48 RT critic score. If Jones had an extra 500 theaters and an extra 20M in P&A, it probably beats this horizon opening fairly easily.

Edited June 28 by PlatnumRoyce

[Insomnia]

Just got out from my showing. My thoughts from the weekend thread:

 

Gorgeous film visually and with the production values, but yeesh. I consider myself an old soul when it comes to movies but even I thought this was really rough. It is absolutely 100% a TV show. The script is meandering and the editing is wonky. Like I didn't even realize the movie was over when the montage for the 2nd part started playing. 🤣 It seemed at first like one of those concluding montages that shows the audience where we're leaving all the characters for now. There was no fade to black. The last scene just transitioned right into the montage.

Edited June 29 by Insomnia

[TheDude391]

1 hour ago, Insomnia said:

Just got out from my showing. My thoughts from the weekend thread:

 

Gorgeous film visually and with the production values, but yeesh. I consider myself an old soul when it comes to movies but even I thought this was really rough. It is absolutely 100% a TV show. The script is meandering and the editing is wonky. Like I didn't even realize the movie was over when the montage for the 2nd part started playing. 🤣 It seemed like one of those concluding montages that shows the audience where we're leaving all the characters for now at first. There was no fade to black. The last scene just transitioned right into the montage.

The ending really needed a To Be Continued with mention of Chapter 2 because yeah...it's super bizarre lol.

[BigBoxOfficeBucks]

It just got a  B– on CinemaScore. This shit is gonna bomb real hard. Feel bad for Kevin Costner. But I still gotta say he should have seen it coming. Ain't it? 

[Speedorito]

On 4/27/2024 at 11:33 PM, Box Office Hit said:

 

🧐

[Firepower]

2 hours ago, Speedorito said:

🧐

That's why I don't trust him. He said the same thing about Indy 5 and... Gladiator 2.

[BigBoxOfficeBucks]

Damn ! I just realized it also got a sub-40 RT score. This shit is absolutely going down in flames. They are filming chapter 3. It is way too late for it to be cancelled.  I doubt if chapter 4 will go on as planned. If this bombs harder than expected, they might have to turn chapter 3 and 4 into a single movie and call it a day. What a total disaster! 

[Mad Max007]

Wonder if WB expected Yellowstone fans to carry this. Funny because Zaslav made a snide remark against the living legend Clint Eastwood 2 years ago while most of his movies have been profitable.

[AniNate]

3 hours ago, BigBoxOfficeBucks said:

Damn ! I just realized it also got a sub-40 RT score. This shit is absolutely going down in flames. They are filming chapter 3. It is way too late for it to be cancelled.  I doubt if chapter 4 will go on as planned. If this bombs harder than expected, they might have to turn chapter 3 and 4 into a single movie and call it a day. What a total disaster! 

 

Seems more likely Zaslav just kills it for the tax writeoff

[efialtes76]

2 hours ago, AniNate said:

 

Seems more likely Zaslav just kills it for the tax writeoff

Horizon isn't a Warner production...

[WittyUsername]

Hasn’t Costner been funding these movies from his own pocket? 

[CJohn]

17 hours ago, BigBoxOfficeBucks said:

Damn ! I just realized it also got a sub-40 RT score. This shit is absolutely going down in flames. They are filming chapter 3. It is way too late for it to be cancelled.  I doubt if chapter 4 will go on as planned. If this bombs harder than expected, they might have to turn chapter 3 and 4 into a single movie and call it a day. What a total disaster! 

They filmed a few days of Chapter 3 before Cannes and never got the funding to continue.

[PlatnumRoyce]

12 hours ago, WittyUsername said:

Hasn’t Costner been funding these movies from his own pocket? 

~90M of the 110M for part 1 was funded by Costner and one other individual (38M & 50M) (according to Solstace Pictures' Gill in an podcast interview with Belloni)

 

[Macleod]

On 6/30/2024 at 7:50 AM, CJohn said:

They filmed a few days of Chapter 3 before Cannes and never got the funding to continue.

 

Any confirmation that it's not still filming?  I was under the impression Costner still was (between promotional duties, of course).

 

On 6/30/2024 at 9:39 AM, PlatnumRoyce said:

~90M of the 110M for part 1 was funded by Costner and one other individual (38M & 50M) (according to Solstace Pictures' Gill in an podcast interview with Belloni)

 

 

OK...so what about Part 2, already shot?  Who exactly funded that??  And to what percentage?  Every trade and journalist is saying something different...

Edited July 1 by Macleod

[PlatnumRoyce]

On 6/30/2024 at 2:15 PM, Macleod said:

 

Any confirmation that its not still filming?  I was under the impression Costner still was (between promotional duties, of course). OK...so what about Part 2, already shot?  Who exactly funded that??  And to what percentage?  Every trade and journalist is saying something different...

Right? It doesn't really make sense. If it's Costner/random guy again, why not report them combined?

 

At least some interviews (including Belloni/Gill thing) are 100% clear they're talking about part 1 and only part 1 but the only way the $110M/100M number for part 1 works is if 50% of the budget is either outside of utah or non-qualifying (which likely in this context means cast/crew not meeting utah residency requirements). I guess that's possible but it seems strange. 

  

What I know about part 2

• 75M QE in Utah (take 25% of that as a tax credit) 14M in tax credits (56M gross)
• "additional county tax credits for the filming of parts 2/3 in southern utah" because they're going to hire local film school talent. no amount mentioned but a press release claims 90M in "economic impact" expected for the county. Probably relatedly, Costner's now a co-owner/minority owner in a a $40M "territory film studios" project. 
• probably ~30M from Costner himself given that ">50M spent to date" anecdote he dropped. 

https://film.greaterzion.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/NewsRelease.Horizon.3.6.23.pdf
https://www.sltrib.com/news/2024/02/14/kevin-costner-build-film-studio/

Edited July 1 by PlatnumRoyce

[Napoleon]

On 6/28/2024 at 12:27 PM, PrinceRico said:

The good news about this flopping is that it should be on streaming in about 2 weeks. 

What is that good news? If you want to see the movie why not support it in theaters where in this case it really matters?