The opening weekend at the box office for Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga did not go his way. Instead of the movie being a smash hit, it whimpered into theaters — and it’s drawing many concerns for the second part which is due out Aug. 16. For the 69-year-old actor, who invested $38 million of his own funds into the Western, it’s a bone-chilling moment for his finances.
Costner is reportedly “in a world of pain” after audiences failed to support his passion project. He was hoping that his Yellowstone fans would be the first in line to buy a ticket, but that wasn’t the case when Horizon only managed to generate $11 million over the weekend. “For all his bravado, he’s terrified Horizon will bleed him dry, and he’ll lose a huge chunk of savings,” a Life & Style source shared.
The Field of Dreams star knew he was taking a big risk when he mortgaged 10 acres of his property in Carpinteria, California, but he didn’t seem worried about his film tanking at the box office. He told Francis Ford Coppola in a Deadline interview earlier this year that his self-financing move “has thrown my accountant into a f**king conniption fit. But it’s my life, and I believe in the idea and the story.” However, Costner was warned by more than one person.
Finance expert Eric Schiffer told Fox Business ahead of Horizon‘s release that not only is the four-part franchise a “threat to the estate of Kevin Costner,” but it’s also “the financial kiss of death.” Schiffer noted that Costner’s wish to have audiences eventually watch all four movies on the same day at the theaters is just a bad idea. “When you think of binging, and you do it perhaps at the house, you’re alone. You have privacy, you have perhaps your loved ones and the ability to break and do other things,” he pointed out. “To sit in a movie theater, even if there’s a small intermission, it sounds like Costner needs to be paying people to go.”
After realizing that his dream project may not be a crowd-pleaser, Costner is “in crisis meetings over his projects” because he has to figure out a way to make the second part a success. “He’s in a world of pain. Everything is caving in on him now,” the Life & Style source said dramatically. “It’s only a matter of time before he crumbles!” We hope Costner will be OK, but he might want to take a temperature reading on moviegoers’ preferences these days. They are very picky about what they are spending their hard-earned money on.
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