“They gotta get over that cr*p”: Horizon: An American Saga Star Slams TikTok Users’ Terrible Attention Span For Ruining Cinemas Amid Kevin Costner Film’s Failure

Kevin Costner’s latest film, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, hit theaters recently, marking the beginning of a four-part film series. The movie is directed and co-written by Costner, and he also plays the role of Hayes Ellison in the movie. It is about America’s Western expansion before and after the Civil War.

Even with a popular cast and a big budget, the movie failed to deliver a good opening. Now, one of the film’s lead actors, Michael Rooker, is speaking out about why he thinks the movie underperformed, and he has something to say for today’s audiences, especially TikTok-loving youngsters.

Michael Rooker Believes TikTok Killed the Cinema Audience

Michael Rooker, who portrayed Sgt. Major Thomas Riordan in Horizon: An American Saga, did not hesitate when referring to the box office failure on the first weekend. According to Box Office Mojo, the movie had a domestic opening of $11.05 million, and so far it has collected over $12.2 million worldwide.

Rooker pointed towards the modern audience and their inability to sit through something for a longer period and experience it from start to finish. He told TMZ,

We’re used to 90-minute movies, everything’s 90 minutes. Oh, come on. Give me a break. Get over that sh*t. You know, let’s watch a movie that actually tells a story, where you learn about the people and you grow to like them or hate them, and it’s not all fast cut-cut-cut.

Blaming the short attention span due to the overconsumption of short-format content like on TikTok, he said,

They gotta get over that cr*p, come on. Yeah, they’ve gotta learn what it’s like to watch real cinema. Go see the movie … There’s three more to go, be prepared.

Rooker believes that today’s audiences are missing out on quality storytelling and argues that Horizon: An American Saga offers a chance to really get to know the characters, whether they end up either loving or hating them. In the TMZ interview, he also praised Kevin Costner as a “brilliant director” with a knack for picking “the cream of the crop” when it comes to talent.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Costner invested $38 million of his own money into the project. The total budget for the first film was around $100 million, and the $11 million opening weekend looks pretty underwhelming in comparison. But Costner is already shooting the third film in the saga, with the second one set to hit theaters in August.

Potential Reasons Behind Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1‘s Struggle

While Rooker’s passionate defense of the film is admirable, his theory about audience attention spans might not be completely true. A very recent example is Dune: Part Two, which became a huge hit with a runtime of 2 hours 46 minutes. There are some other potential factors that could be contributing to Horizon’s bad performance.

First off, the Western genre isn’t exactly hot right now. Although TV shows like Yellowstone, which Costner recently left, have found success, big-screen Westerns are not very popular these days.

Then there’s the competition, as Horizon went up against some big films in its opening weekend, including Inside Out 2, which has been breaking records so far. It’s tough for an original film to compete with established franchises, no matter how epic it might be.

Critics haven’t been kind to the film, as it got 44% on Rotten Tomatoes. Some reviewers have praised the movie’s visuals but criticized its storylines. The film follows multiple characters and plotlines, including settlers in Apache country, a woman escaping an abusive husband, and a wagon train journey. It’s a lot to keep track of, even with a three-hour runtime. 

However, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Comscore chief box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian mentioned that the film holds much more potential on streaming platforms and will work well with an older generation audience.

There are still three more movies to go in this saga. Maybe word of mouth will help boost those box office numbers for the next installment.

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 was released on June 28, 2024, and is now running in theaters.