A movie’s lifespan or story is not made in a single weekend at the box office. Nor is it charted through even its lifetime run in theaters. The big screen is the optimal way to begin a film’s artistic life, but the story of individual titles goes on much longer than just when it’s playing in an AMC auditorium. How people respond to these projects over the long haul is the true testament to a motion picture’s artistic merits. Can a movie garner a fan base that sticks with it for years and years to come? Will people still be quoting it even when its physical media copies are stuck in discount bins?
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This is how box office flops like It’s a Wonderful Life or The Rocky Horror Picture Show eventually took on their revered pop culture personas. Even The Shawshank Redemption didn’t do record-shattering box office numbers when it first debuted. It was only through cable reruns that it became one of the most beloved movies of the 20th century. Now, Kevin Costner, the king of movies your dad rewatches endlessly on cable, is seeing one of his box office bombs garner new life on Netflix. Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 has become a viewership smash on the streamer in recent weeks.
What Netflix Success Has Horizon Garnerned?
On 2024’s penultimate day, Netflix added the Warner Bros./New Line Cinema release Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 to its library of streaming titles. Six months earlier, the production had grossed just $38.2 million worldwide ($29 million of which came from North America) on a $50 million budget. It was a dismal haul for a Western epic that Costner had independently financed. It also put him in an awkward spot since this was supposed to be the start of a four-part movie series. Horizon’s second installment was already finished for an August 2024 release date that would never materialize. The third part, meanwhile, has been partially shot.
This Netflix debut finally gave Horizon a bit of good news in the new year. In its first week on the platform, the film has proved incredibly popular, ranking among the Top 10 movies streamed on Netflix. Horizon’s grand Western imagery (harkening back to the days of The Ox-Bow Incident and The Searchers) makes the big screen its ideal home. However, Horizon is firmly part of a long tradition of dad movies that took off like a rocket on cable. Netflix housing Horizon is the modern incarnation of TNT endlessly rerunning JFK or A Perfect World back in the day.
Plus, Costner’s fan base has grown accustomed to seeing him on the small screen. Thanks to Yellowstone’s immense success on the Paramount Network and Peacock, the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves leading man has become a TV sensation for older viewers in the last decade. Horizon hitting Netflix finally brings Costner’s passion project right to where his target demo now consumes media. On top of all that, Netflix may simply be a less daunting place for modern older moviegoers to embrace an original Western.
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Watching a movie on Netflix is not as grand of a commitment as shelling out dollars to see something in a theater. Audiences can tap out of Horizon whenever they want on Netflix. If they do stick around, they get rewarded with production value that belongs on the big screen. It’s not like a Netflix Original Movie, where viewers who actually pay attention to the screen witness the stalest cinematography imaginable.
Where Does The Horizon Go From Here?
Costner’s grand Horizon: An American Saga epic finally has some good news, with Chapter 1 becoming a nice Netflix sensation. However, that still doesn’t remove the uncertainty lingering over this expansive enterprise. Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2024. Months later, there’s still no word on how or when it’s getting released to the general public, though Warner Bros. has confirmed vague plans for a “2025” launch. Costner has remained steadfast in his dedication to getting Chapter 3 and 4 finished, even though full financing for both projects is up in the air.
Since Chapter 1’s release, rumors have flared up online that a streamer like Netflix could finance and release the remaining Horizon movies. Never say never, but that seems difficult to imagine happening simply because the first three chapters have their financing and ownership tied up across so many independent entities. While Horizon’s future remains murky, Chapter 1’s Netflix success suggests some people are consuming and enjoying Costner’s grand epic. As usual, movies don’t develop their reputations or fan bases overnight.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 is now streaming on Netflix.