‘Horizon’ Film Starring Kevin Costner Faces Intense Legal Fight (Exclusive)
New Line Cinema has initiated an arbitration claim against Kevin Costner’s production company, Horizon Series, over alleged breaches of their co-financing agreement for the period Western film Horizon, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Sources say Horizon Series, Costner’s loan-out firm behind the project, is currently in a standoff with New Line regarding their financing deal. The dispute escalated after City National Bank launched arbitration proceedings involving both companies. In response, New Line filed a crossclaim seeking repayment from Horizon Series as part of its legal defense.
According to the agreement, both New Line and Horizon Series were responsible for covering portions of the film’s financing. New Line claims it covered Horizon’s share, but City National Bank insists it is owed more. Requests for comment from City National Bank and Territory Pictures—Costner’s production company—went unanswered.
Costner created Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1, which he directed, co-wrote, starred in, and partly financed. The film, designed as the first installment of a four-part saga, was released last June with an ambitious plan to follow up with the sequel just seven weeks later.
However, that plan was abandoned after Horizon, with a $100 million budget, underperformed at the box office—earning $12 million on opening weekend and roughly $38 million overall. To try and build an audience for Chapter 1, Territory Pictures and New Line decided to release the film on premium video-on-demand and Max while it was still in theaters, delaying the sequel’s release.
By last year, Chapter 3 was already filming despite not being fully financed, with plans for Chapter 4 to follow soon after. Because of the risks involved, the project’s financing came largely from Costner himself and private investors rather than a major studio. Warner Bros. is only distributing the film for a fee. Costner deferred his fees, mortgaged his Santa Barbara waterfront home, and invested millions of his own money, reportedly putting in $38 million—or potentially over $50 million—of personal funds.
The future of Chapter 2 remains uncertain, especially since Horizon ends with an extended montage of scenes from the sequel, serving as both a teaser and a pitch reel for potential investors to join Costner’s ambitious Western saga.
“I need some more money — I do. I need some of these billionaires with their yachts ‘from here to here’ who like to tell people they’re billionaires to come with me and make a movie,” Costner said during a podcast interview at Cannes last year. “I don’t have the money they have, and I’ve already made two of ’em. Where are you rich guys?”
