Kevin Costner’s Horizon Failed By Ignoring What Made Yellowstone So Great

In 2024, Kevin Costner released the first part of his passion project, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, and the movie’s less-than-stellar reviews likely have to do with this storytelling mistake. Kevin Costner has been in the movie business since the early 1980s, and in that time, he has received his fair share of praise. His directorial debut, Dances with Wolves, not only won an Academy Award for Best Picture, but it also earned an exorbitant amount of money at the box office considering its $22 million budget: $424 million. Yet, Costner’s recent Western movies haven’t been so successful.

Horizon: An American Saga is Kevin Costner’s latest venture after leavingYellowstone. For four and a half seasons, Costner led the neo-Western show, but in the last year, Costner exited Yellowstone due to disagreements with the showrunner, Taylor Sheridan. Now, it seems that Costner is putting his time and effort into this new franchise of Western movies. Horizon: An American Saga takes place in the American West in the years leading up to the Civil War. From new settlers to gruff cowboys, the movie follows the paths of various characters in this brutal Western setting.

Kevin Costner’s Horizon Lacks The Clear Character Focus Of Yellowstone

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 earned 49% on Rotten Tomatoes and a disappointing $36 million at the box office. A big part Horizon: An American Saga’s failure is how Costner handled his cast and characters. Horizon: An American Saga has a massive cast which showcases all the unique and interesting individuals who appeared in the American West during this time period. While a big cast can certainly give a movie an epic feel, Horizon: An American Saga was unable to balance its many characters well. On the other hand, Costner’s previous project, Yellowstone, does this perfectly.

Yellowstone also has a large cast, but unlike Horizon: An American Saga, the Western TV show focuses on the right people at the right times. Where Horizon: An American Saga introduces a number of figures who seem completely unrelated, Yellowstone is able to showcase all its characters and how they’re connected. The Duttons are the main family and each sibling has their own branch of characters. Ultimately, Yellowstone succeeds at narrowing in on the most interesting characters in a timely fashion. Meanwhile, Horizon: An American Saga jumps from person to person without giving anyone the time they deserve.