Then and Now: How Dances With Wolves and Horizon Reflect Kevin Costner’s Western Journey

If you’re wondering why Kevin Costner would invest $38 million of his own money into Horizon: An American Saga — despite its disappointing performance — it might be because he remembers the huge payoff from a similar gamble in 1990. That year, Costner directed, produced, and starred in Dances With Wolves, a sweeping frontier Western where he played Union Army Lieutenant John J. Dunbar, who forms a deep connection with the Sioux people. The film was a massive critical and commercial success, earning multiple Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and generating impressive box office returns. In contrast, Horizon has so far brought in less than a third of its reported $100 million budget.