“Costner’s 2024 Western Becomes a Netflix Hit Despite Box Office Disappointment”
Kevin Costner’s Western Redemption: ‘Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1’ Finds New Life on Netflix After Box Office Bomb
Kevin Costner has long been a major figure in Hollywood, both in front of and behind the camera. With two Academy Awards under his belt — Best Director and Best Picture for 1990’s Dances with Wolves — Costner’s legacy is filled with critical and commercial highs. He’s starred in beloved classics like Field of Dreams, The Bodyguard, and Bull Durham, the latter boasting a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. He was also part of Hidden Figures, another critical success with a 93% score.
However, not all of Costner’s projects have been hits. Alongside his achievements, he’s seen his fair share of critical and commercial failures. Dragonfly (2002) stands as his lowest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes, scraping by with a dismal 7%. Even The Postman, now considered a cult favorite, flopped with critics and audiences alike, earning only $17 million against its $80 million budget and a 14% Tomatometer rating. Unfortunately, one of Costner’s 2024 releases followed a similar trajectory.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 Is Trending on Netflix After Flopping in Theaters
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, Costner’s sweeping Western epic, opened in June 2024 and was originally planned as the first of a multi-part saga. The second installment was scheduled for release just two months later, in August. But plans quickly changed after the film underperformed, earning just $38.2 million globally against a reported $100 million budget. Critics weren’t kind either — the film holds a 51% score on Rotten Tomatoes. As a result, the theatrical release of Chapter 2 was pulled from the calendar, leaving the future of the franchise uncertain.
Despite its rocky theatrical run, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 has found unexpected success on streaming. After a quiet debut on Max, the film recently landed on Netflix — and the audience response has been surprisingly positive. According to FlixPatrol, the film has climbed into Netflix’s U.S. Top 10 Movies chart. As of now, it sits at No. 10, joining titles like Dune: Part Two, Interstellar, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
Our Take: What Horizon’s Streaming Popularity Could Mean
The recent streaming surge doesn’t erase the financial losses from the box office, but it does show that there’s still interest in Costner’s ambitious Western. The Netflix bump suggests that a broader audience may be discovering Horizon now that it’s more accessible. If this trend continues, it could spark renewed momentum for Chapter 2, which remains in limbo following its theatrical delay.
Streaming success might not be enough to revive the franchise entirely — but for now, it’s a promising sign that Horizon isn’t entirely dead in the water.
