“In a Year of Disappointments, Kevin Costner’s Horizon Might Be Hollywood’s Underrated Gem”
After Yellowstone, Kevin Costner’s Horizon Deserved Better — But Hollywood’s 2024 Box Office Tells a Bigger Story
Following his acclaimed role in Yellowstone, expectations were sky-high for Kevin Costner’s return to Western storytelling with Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1. Promoted as a bold and expansive Western epic, the 2024 release was supposed to be a triumphant cinematic return for Costner — not just as an actor, but also as a director and producer. Unfortunately, the film stumbled hard at the box office, falling far short of its ambitious goals.
The disappointment sparked strong reactions online, with some fans blaming Costner for overhyping a film that didn’t deliver. But taking a broader view of the 2024 box office landscape reveals that Horizon wasn’t an outlier — it was just one of many original films that struggled to find an audience in a market increasingly dominated by sequels, reboots, and franchise entries.
Horizon Fails to Find Its Audience, Despite Costner’s Track Record
Kevin Costner has long had a strong association with Westerns — from Dances With Wolves to Let Him Go and The Highwaymen — and Horizon seemed like a natural extension of that legacy. Spanning a 12-year timeline before and after the Civil War, the film sought to explore the American frontier through a gritty, character-driven lens.
However, despite its ambitious premise and high production value, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 failed to connect with moviegoers. Made on an estimated $50 million budget, the film brought in only $31.49 million globally — just 0.6x its production cost. The poor performance forced Costner to delay the release of Chapter 2, casting uncertainty over the future of the entire saga.
While some critics pointed to the film’s pacing and narrative choices as weak points, the broader takeaway is that original, non-franchise films are facing a steep uphill battle — no matter who’s behind the camera.
2024: The Year Original Films Got Left Behind
Kevin Costner’s Horizon may have disappointed financially, but it wasn’t alone. In fact, 2024 has set an unfortunate trend: original stories — even those with big stars and sizable budgets — are consistently losing ground to franchise films.
Take Argylle, for example. Directed by Matthew Vaughn and starring Henry Cavill, Dua Lipa, and John Cena, the spy parody had all the ingredients of a box office hit. But despite a massive $200 million budget and a high-profile marketing campaign, the film only grossed around $96 million globally — barely half its production cost.
This isn’t just a matter of one or two flops. The pattern is clear: original storytelling is being squeezed out of the theatrical space, as audiences increasingly gravitate toward the familiar comfort of sequels, remakes, and cinematic universes.
Don’t Blame Horizon — Blame the System
It’s easy to pin the blame on Costner for Horizon’s underperformance, but the truth is more complicated. The film’s struggles reflect a deeper issue within the industry — one where originality is becoming a financial risk, and even veteran filmmakers can’t guarantee success without a franchise label attached.
As 2024 continues to highlight Hollywood’s reliance on existing IP, it’s time to reconsider how we view films like Horizon. Instead of seeing it as a failure, perhaps it’s a reminder of what’s at stake when original ideas are pushed to the sidelines.
