Kevin Costner is keeping his head held high, and following through with his vision for Horizon: An American Saga.
It's a bit of a tough week ahead for the Yellowstone actor, 69, who was meant to release in theaters the second chapter of his four-part Western extravaganza on August 16, before it was unexpectedly pulled from its theatrical release.
The first film, a sore subject in the midst of his apparent feud with Taylor Sheridan and his complicated divorce proceedings with ex Christine Baumgartner, premiered in theaters in late June, however it has since failed to have significant box office impact or impress critics.
Though it remains unclear when it will hit theaters, chapter two will instead be shown at the upcoming Venice Film Festival in conjunction with the first installment, a turn of events Kevin is in fact pleased with.
Speaking with E! News, Kevin recalled how his Oscar-winning directorial debut, Field of Dreams, was similarly dismissed, however he maintained: "It's stood the time of decades, now generations — and that's how I try to make movies. That's what I see for Horizon."
"I've faced life with people being dismissive of me," he noted, before emphasizing: "But they can't be dismissive of Horizon, because now it's out of their hands. And they might point to the finish line — well, this is what it did at the box office — but I know that this movie is going to play for the next 50 years."
© Getty ImagesHorizon had a budget of $100 million, and was filmed in a Utah set that Kevin plans to expand into a massive, Costner-themed movie filming compound.
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He has admitted to putting $38 million of his own money into the first film alone, though it earned only $11 million on opening weekend, and a total of $32 million globally so far.
© GettyStill, Kevin is confident the movie will stand the test of time nonetheless. "There's a moment in time where you want [your children] to see this movie," he further shared, adding: "To understand that this is what their [ancestors] went through. It's not just a western, it's a history of migration and what they had to do to survive. And I'm really proud of it."
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© GettyPlus, he's pleased with how the release of chapter two turned out after all. "That was a nice development over there," he shared of how the first and second movies will be presented at Venice, noting: "They understand that it's a saga," referring to the festival organizers.
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© Getty"I didn't ever imagine [the releases] six weeks apart, it was always four months, or six months. But the studio saw an opportunity, they thought it could be something," he also admitted, and even joked: "I don't feel that anymore."
Kevin, who earned two Academy Awards for Dances with Wolves in 1990, directs and stars in Horizon, in addition to Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, plus his own 15-year-old son Hayes, who makes a brief appearance, and who was named after the lead character (Kevin has been working on Horizon for over 15 years).
