The 20024 Cannes Film Festival is in full swing now, and it’s arguably been dominated by expensive passion projects that could be seen as vanity projects by their makers. The first one, Francis Ford Coppola’s long-awaited “Megalopolis,” landed yesterday to much consternation and mixed reviews; ours was positive, but still slightly baffled, and the film currently sits at 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. The next big self-financed project debuting soon on the Croisette is “Horizon: An American Saga,” an epic Western from writer/director and star Kevin Costner.
Like Coppola, “Horizon: An American Saga” is self-financed, at least to some degree. In a recent interview with Deadline, Costner said he’s spent almost $100 million of his own money and will definitely hit or exceed that figure if he can make parts three and four.
Oh, that’s right, did we mention? This Civil War-era epic is already two parts long, and Costner eventually hopes to make another two parts to it.
The film is essentially another retelling of how the Old West was won in the grand tradition of sweeping, epic Hollywood filmmaking, wrapped up in a romantic drama about family, survival, and America. The entire cast is wild, too. Costner stars alongside Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Owen Crow Shoe, Tatanka Means, Ella Hunt, Tim Guinee, and Danny Huston.
But the entire ensemble list is incredibly long and also includes all these names:
Colin Cunningham, Scott Haze, Tom Payne, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Will Patton, Georgia MacPhail, Douglas Smith, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jamie Campbell Bower, Alejandro Edda, Wasé Winyan Chief, Michael Anganaro, Angus Macfadyen, Jon Beavers, Alex Nibley, Kathleen Quinlan, Etienne Kellici, Amos Jason Charging Cloud, Bodhi Okuma Linton, Gregory Cruz, James Russo, Jeff Fahey, David O’Hara, Chris Conner, Leroy M. Silva, Bernardo Velasco, Tom Everett, Glynn Turman, Giovanni Ribisi and more.
The official synopsis and note is that “Horizon” Part 1 runs almost three hours.
In the great tradition of Warner Bros. Pictures’ iconic Westerns, Horizon: An American Saga explores the lure of the Old West and how it was won—and lost—through the blood, sweat and tears of many. Spanning the four years of the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, Kevin Costner’s ambitious cinematic adventure will take audiences on an emotional journey across a country at war with itself, experienced through the lens of families, friends, and foes all attempting to discover what it truly means to be the United States of America.
“Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1” opens in theaters June 28, 2024. “Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2” arrives about five weeks later on in theaters August 16, 2024. Watch the new trailer below