A Million Dollar Lesson Kevin Costner Needs to Learn From Netflix’s ‘American Primeval’ After His Disastrous Horizon Flop

Horizon: An American Saga is a series of four planned epic western movies directed, co-written, and produced by actor-filmmaker Kevin Costner. The actor also stars in the movie as Hayes Ellison. The story is set in pre-and-post Civil War America and goes into detail about the exploration of the American West. Horizon: An American Saga follows the characters in twelve years and their experiences pioneering into the new territory from their homes.

The actor believes that viewers should be aware of and get inspired by the true history of America in the Old West. Horizon: An American Saga is expanded into a series of four individual films so that Costner could accurately depict a 12-year history of the United States, including the impact of the American Civil War. However, upon the release of the first part, it was reported that the film series was not what the audience wanted to see.

Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga should have been a show like Netflix’s American Primeval

Horizon: An American Saga is a film series known to be Kevin Costner’s passion project in which he not only starred but also co-wrote, produced, and directed. The actor-filmmaker took an exit from Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone to focus on the film series and had a lot of hopes for it to work and be a success.

However, critics as well as the audience have suggested that instead of going for movies, Costner should have developed the story of Horizon as a TV show. The reason is the long three-hour runtime and the storyline, which, according to critics and fans, is well suited for a TV show.

Netflix’s American Primeval is one such example, as it has managed to stand out for being able to explore the Utah Territory and the role settlers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints played. Created by Mark L. Smith and directed by Peter Berg, the miniseries follows a woman on the run who seeks out a guide at Fort Bridger in Wyoming to assist her in transporting her young son to his father in Missouri. She, along with other characters, finds herself in the middle of the budding war, making their journey dangerously violent.

Upon release of the Western epic drama, it received average comments from critics and the audience. This goes to show that people do have an appetite to consume dramas like American Primeval, and if Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga had been developed as a series, it would have performed way better than it did. Now, with poor reviews for Chapter 1, it’s hard to say if Costner would be able to finish his passion project or not.

According to ScreenRant, the approach towards the story for Horizon is a little off the mark. One of the reasons why critics have mentioned that the storyline won’t work is because the movies are a continuation, which means that Chapter 1 is spent setting up dozens of characters and several primary locations that are going to be significant in the coming movies. But a three-hour-long setup does not make for an entertaining theatrical experience.

The characters in the movie have very little appeal to the audience, but when compared to American Primeval, the characters on the show have left an impact on the audience. Despite receiving average reviews, the show has managed to capture a set of audiences who are interested in watching Western epic stories, and thus, Horizon: An American Saga would have worked if it had been a TV show instead of four movies.

Kevin Costner talks about Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1’s failure

In speaking to Variety during the press conference at the Venice Film Festival, Kevin Costner addressed the reaction to Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1. He added that not having Chapter 2’s release was probably a reaction to the underwhelming performance of Chapter 1. He mentioned that it was indeed the studios’ decision.

The reviews did not bother the actor-filmmaker; in fact, he stated that he is very proud of the movie that has come out and mentioned that, according to him, people are going to watch Horizon: An American Saga for generations. He said,

I’ve faced life with people being dismissive of me. I’ve had a lot of movies that way that have stood the test of time.

Costner explained that, for him, the decision to delay the movie’s release fell back into his plan. He mentioned that he always wanted to come out with movies about five to six months apart. Costner added that it was going to allow him to come to Venice, hinting that the festival wouldn’t show the movie if it was already out.

Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2 was showcased at the Venice Film Festival. Carrying a budget of $100 million, Chapter 1 could only manage to gross over $38.7 million at the box office. Costner has been very open and proud of the fact that Horizon returns to the traditional roots of American Westerns, but it has mainly attracted the older male demographic.

Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone revived the Western genre to some extent in recent years and proves why the Western epic drama stories work for TV franchises and not for movies.

Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 is streaming on Netflix and HBO Max.