The second installment of Kevin Costner’s film series Horizon will no longer be hitting theaters in August as originally planned, The Hollywood Reporter reported Wednesday.
Following the dismal performance of the first film, which made only $22.6 million its first two weekends at the box office, and after Costner reportedly put $38 million of his own money into the film and mortgaged his own property to do so, the second film will go straight to VOD on July 16 in addition to a theatrical release which has not yet been announced, according to the site.
Costner has repeatedly expressed how the movie series was a personal passion, and cited the undertaking of making the films, which he directed and stars in, as a reason he quit the popular drama series Yellowstone.
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Horizon, the first of four planned films, was also panned critically in addition to its meager box office performance. The New Yorker reported that Horizon “goes west but gets nowhere,” while The New York Post asked in the headline of its critique, “Kevin Costner Quit Yellowstone For This?!” Entertainment Weekly pointed out the film’s three-hour runtime while calling part of the movie “dull as dirt.”
And The Daily Beast’s Obsessed’s critic Nick Schager said the film is “so expansive and incomplete that it resembles a modern television series awkwardly edited into feature form.”
Costner has reportedly been undaunted by the negative reception and still plans to move forward with the next three films and resume filming the third in August. A statement from his production company as sent to THR reads in part, “The audience response to Horizon and enthusiasm for seeing our story continue in Horizon 2 has been incredibly gratifying.”
But the studios have clearly taken notice of the film’s lackluster reception, as they delay the theatrical release of the next film to give audiences a “greater opportunity to discover the first installment of Horizon over the coming weeks,” according to a New Line spokesperson in a statement to the site.
Theatergoers who had purchased advanced tickets to Horizon 2 will have their tickets refunded due to the last minute change.
