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Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga
franchise is now wrapped up in a legal dispute as Chapter 2 remains without a release date. Representing a major passion project for Costner, the franchise features the Yellowstone star as writer, director, producer, and star in what was laid out as a four-part exploration of the settling of the American West before and after the Civil War. The first film hit theaters last summer and vastly underperformed, leading to the scrapping of Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2‘s release, with chapters 3 and 4 also in limbo.
Per THR, New Line Cinema and Horizon Series, Kevin Costner’s loan-out firm, are now in the midst of a legal battle regarding financing for the Horizon franchise. The two companies reportedly had a cofinancing agreement in place, which would have required both New Line and Horizon Series to repay a portion of the financing to City National Bank. The dispute reportedly began with legal action by City National Bank, which initiated arbitration proceedings against both New Line and Horizon Series. New Line then responded by filing a crossclaim against Costner’s company in order to receive repayment as part of its defense.
What This Means For The Horizon Franchise’s Future
The Kevin Costner Project Is In Trouble
The Horizon franchise is a unique case in the world of Hollywood. Costner bet on himself with the franchise, sinking at least $50 million of his own money into it, on top of deferring his fees and mortgaging his Santa Barbara mansion. The reception to Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, however, wasn’t glowing from critics, and the film grossed just $38 million worldwide on a budget thought to be around $100 million. The sequel was supposed to hit theaters seven weeks later, but this plan was shifted to give audiences more time to discover the first film on streaming.
Chapter 2 has been filmed and premiered at the Venice International Film Festival last September, but, as of writing, there’s no release date in sight for it. Filming on Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 3 got underway last year, but that film has reportedly stalled due to a lack of financing. Chapter 4 similarly remains a question mark. This latest legal battle is yet another setback for the franchise, raising more questions about whether the third and fourth films will ever actually see the light of day.
More to come…
Source: THR