Why was Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2 release canceled? Explained

Kevin Costner fans will have to wait longer to see Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2, an ambitious Western project hailed by Costner himself. The theatrical release of the movie was initially scheduled for August 16, 2024. However, this date has been officially canceled, and the release has been pushed back.

The first installment of the Horizon saga, Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1, which chronicled an epic journey West in the years before and after the Civil War, hit theaters at the end of June. The release was met with mixed reviews and did not fare as well as was expected at the box office. This raised concerns about the Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2 release, which was planned only weeks later in August.

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Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2- Is the release canceled?

The New Line Cinema and Kevin Costner's Territory Pictures, which are behind the production of Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2, have decided to push back the movie's release date to August.

This decision came following the first movie's poor performance at the box office and with the intention of giving the first movie time to find its audience both in theaters and on home viewing platforms. New Line Cinema commented to THR about the decision, saying:

“Territory Pictures and New Line Cinema have decided not to release Horizon: Chapter 2 on August 16 in order to give audiences a greater opportunity to discover the first installment of Horizon over the coming weeks, including on PVOD and MAX. We thank our exhibition partners for their continued support as moviegoers across the US discover the film in its theatrical run.”

Territory Pictures said in a statement,

“The audience response to Horizon, and enthusiasm for seeing our story continue in ‘Horizon 2,’ has been incredibly gratifying. Kevin made this film for people who love movies and who wanted to go on a journey.”

It continues:

“The support that we have received from film fans, and the theater owners, as they experience the first chapter of this saga only serves to reinforce our belief in them and the films that we have made, and we thank them for coming on board for the ride. We welcome the opportunity for that window to be expanded as we know it will only serve to enhance the experience of seeing ‘Horizon 2.’”

This is a strategic move that aims to build a larger viewer base for the franchise with the first installment before moving onto the second chapter. As of now, no new release date for Chapter 2 has been announced.

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Was the cancellation of Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2 inevitable?

The cancellation of Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2 release on August 16 was perhaps foreseen because the release of two movies in a franchise within two months of each other did not make a lot of sense. Especially because the following pair of sequels are both incomplete. This means that after watching Chapters 1 and 2, fans would have to wait for a long time for the next installment of Horizon to come. The franchise would be unable to keep up a consistent release pattern.

A similar situation happened in 1994, when the previous Kevin Costner western Wyatt Earp premiered only six months after Tombstone. The first movie, which had a smaller budget, a shorter runtime, and a stronger critical reception, proved to be strong competition for the latter, which ended up as a financial failure, earning only $55.9 million against its $63 million budget.

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About Horizon: An American Saga

Horizon: An American Saga is Kevin Costner's latest passion project. It is a Western drama franchise set in the American West during the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865. The franchise chronicles how America came to expand from ocean to ocean.

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Watch this space for more updates on Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2.