Kevin Costner’s ‘Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter Two’ will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September, after its US release was pulled.
The second chapter of the Western epic was scrapped from its planned Aug. 16 release in U.S. theaters earlier this month after “Horizon’s” $100 million-budgeted first installment grossed just $11 million in its opening weekend.
“Chapter Two” – which Costner again directs and co-stars with Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone and Danny Huston – will bow out of competition at the Lido on September 7. The world premiere will be preceded earlier on the same day. through a screening of the first ‘Horizon’ film, which launched in Cannes in May to a seven-minute standing ovation.
In VarietyIn his review of the first film, chief film critic Owen Gleiberman wrote: “Rather than unfolding a Western saga in a solid, powerful arc, Costner serves up three hours of anecdotes, cutting across groups of characters and delving into situations that were just as quickly away, providing a skittish overview of life on the beach and asking the audience, in many cases, to piece together the backstory of what they see.
New Line Cinema’s “Horizon: An American Saga” is a multi-faceted portrayal of the expansion and resolution of the Civil War in the American West. In addition to directing and starring, Costner co-wrote with Jon Baird (“The Explorers Guild”) and produced through his Territory Pictures.
“It has always been my dream to screen ‘Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter Two’ at the Venice Film Festival,” Costner said in a statement. “The fact that they have now decided to screen ‘Chapter One’ earlier in the day and then the world premiere of ‘Chapter’ Two that evening shows not only their belief in the way the two films work together, but also their support a director’s vision. I am indebted to Alberto Barbera for his courage and leadership in his commitment to this cinematic journey.”
Barbera added: “It is a great pleasure and honor to host the world premiere of chapter two of ‘Horizon: An American Saga’, in addition to the first chapter. This late addition to the Venice Film Festival line-up is a sincere and respectful tribute to the visionary project of a great actor and director, who invested himself in the epic reconstruction of the years crucial to the country’s founding, and went beyond myth. search for authenticity capable of restoring a piece of history in its complex and contradictory reality.”
The 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival takes place from August 28 to September. 7.
