Kevin Costner took a huge gamble to bringHorizon: An American Sagato the big screen. The acclaimed actor left behind his iconic role as John Dutton in the hit TV series,Yellowstone, to shoot his epic Western movie, a project that cost a lot of time, money, and energy, with surprisingly little accompanying recognition. The first installment of the four-part franchise bombed financially, and received mixed reviews from critics. With a reported $100 million budget (combined with its sequel),Horizon - Chapter 1drastically underperformed at the box office, bringing in just over $38 million in its theatrical run over the summer.
SomeHorizon: An American Saga Chapter 1reviewswere sympathetic to Costner’s vision, with praise for the visual storytelling, action set-pieces, and intimate character development. Still, there was a general recognition that some of the supportingcharacters inHorizon: An American Saganeeded developing, and that the script itself left much to be desired. However, one of themost fatal flaws in Horizon is the timelineCostner has created for his Western world. The period piece incorporates time jumps that are not necessarily clearly marked on screen, and as such, some viewers may need clarification.
Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 Begins In 1859
The timeline forthe first part of theHorizonfranchise spans a four-year period, starting in 1859, before quickly jumping ahead to 1863, putting the audience right at the heart of the American Civil War. The movie only spends a brief, yet very meaningful amount of time in 1859, with the dominant portion of this epicKevin Costner Westernspent in 1863, meeting a number of different characters as they cross paths across a variety of different locations.
Horizon Was Built In 1859
The opening of the film sees two different groups of land surveyors arrive in the San Pedro Valley in Arizona. The two parties stake their claim on separate sections of the land on either side of the San Pedro River, and begin to lay the plans and the groundwork for the frontier town that would soon be known as Horizon.
Kevin Costner reportedly injected a whopping $38 million of his own money into the first Horizon movie, which is, interestingly, almost exactly the amount of money the movie made at the international box office throughout its theatrical run.
However, shortly after, a missionary named Desmarais turns up expecting to see a burgeoning community and instead finds the massacred bodies of the three founding citizens, who were attacked by a Western Apache war band. Desmarais pays respects to the three victims, buries their bodies, and takes it upon himself to complete their work and bring Horizon to life.
Things Get A Little Confusing For Horizon In 1863
Fast forward four years, and things look very different in Horizon. The 1863 timeframe features perhaps the best scene in the whole movie, as the densely-populated titular settlement is raided by an Apache group led by the ambitious and ruthless Pionsenay, leading to several deaths in a gory and thrilling sequence. The crux of this event is the murder of the husband and son of Frances Kittredge (played by Sienna Miller).
Later, Frances and her daughter, Elizabeth, are found among the rubble by the United States Union Cavalry and Infantry, led by Lt. Gephardt and Sgt. Major Riordan (Sam Worthington and Michael Rooker, respectively). While the dead are buried, Frances and Elizabeth travel with the Cavalry to Camp Gallant, where the widow strikes up a romance with Gephardt.
Numerous differentstorylines unfold inHorizon: An American Sagafrom here on out, all set in 1863. These include Lucy’s flight to Montana with her young son, Sam, after shooting the abusive James Sykes, taking up a new life as Ellen Harvey, and marrying local businessman, Walter. Their peaceful existence is disturbed, however, when the maniacal Sykes brothers, Caleb and Junior, catch up to her seeking revenge.
10 Horizon: Chapter 1 Scenes That Prove Kevin Costner’s Western Sequels Need To Happen
The sequels to Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga might not happen, but these 10 scenes prove the franchise needs to be finished.
Luckily, Hayes Ellison (Kevin Costner) is in town and befriends Marigold, a prostitute who lives with Ellen and Walter. Hayes kills Caleb and helps Marigold escape, with the pair settling at a railroad work camp for a while, and, though they are romantically involved, Marigold eventually leaves the old cowboy when she meets a wealthy traveling gambler.
Meanwhile, a wagon trail treks the Santa Fe Trail, with Horizon as the end destination, introducing the audience to a whole host of characters that will undoubtedly be expanded on inHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2. And, at a trading post, Pionsenay, the Apache responsible for the horrific raid at the start of the film, is tracked by Russell, a survivor of that attack. But, when that hunt proves unsuccessful,Russell and his accomplice, Elias Janney, lay ruin to a nearby Apache village, killing women and children in brutal fashion.
Horizon: An American — Chapter 2’s Time Frame Explained
Horizon Sequel Should Make Everything More Clear
TheHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1endingleads directly into the events of the second installment, and promises to unify all these complex storylines, as all the characters converge in the town of Horizon. The movie was supposed to be released just months after its predecessor, but has been pushed back to a 2025 release.
This sequel has a lot of work to do in bringing the array of characters together, and as such, there is not quite as much of a time jump as the narrative threads start to intertwine and, hopefully, make a lot more sense to viewers.Chapter 2’s finale brings us to the end of the American Civil War, ending in 1865as the saga looks forward to the third installment in the series.
Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga Will Span A 15-Year Period
Three More Horizon Movies Are Still To Come, If Costner Gets His Way
The plan is for Costner to make fourHorizonmovies, andHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 3had begun filmingin July 2024, but the disappointing performance of the first installment has left the franchise in some doubt. Whether the quadrilogy will actually see the light of day remains to be seen, but one thing that is known is thatthe whole Horizon series will span a 15-year period in total, meaning we should get to roughly 1874 by the conclusive chapter.
That means viewers will see the fallout of the American Civil War. The country entered the Reconstruction era from 1865 onwards, which was a period of great political, legal, and societal upheaval. This fascinating period of history will very likely form the basis of the storyline inHorizon: An American Saga- Chapter 3andChapter 4.
Horizon: An American Saga
“Horizon: An American Saga” is a series of epic Western films directed, produced, and co-written by Kevin Costner. The saga spans pre- and post-Civil War America, detailing the exploration and settlement of the American West over 15 years, and follows multiple storylines of fictional characters as they navigate the challenges and opportunities of this tumultuous period.
