It has been more than twenty years since Hollywood veteran Kevin Costner last took a seat in the director’s chair of the western drama ‘Open Range – Wide Land’. His legendary Oscar winner ‘Dances with Wolves’ was almost 35 (!) years ago. But now Costner is celebrating a comeback as a director in his favorite genre – which will likely eclipse the aforementioned works, at least in scope.
In Horizon: An American Saga, Costner tells the story of the establishment of the American West, which not only spans several years, but also several films. Two chapters have already been announced, each about three hours long, which will be released in cinemas a few months apart this year. Two more films are planned, although their realization will likely depend on the success of the first two-part film.
“Horizon: an American saga – part 1“ will be released in German cinemas on August 22, 2024. “Horizon: an American saga – part 2” follows less than three months later on November 7. In addition to Costner himself, the major project’s illustrious cast also includes ‘Avatar’ stars Sam Worthington and Giovanni Ribisi, ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ fan favorite Michael Rooker, ‘Stranger Things’ villain Jamie Campbell Bower, ‘Spider-Man 3 “-Villain Thomas Haden Church, “orphan” devil Isabelle Fuhrmann, “Hunger Games” fighter Jena Malone and Sienna Miller (“American Sniper”).
What will happen to Kevin Costner’s role in “Yellowstone”?
As many fans of the neo-Western hit ‘Yellowstone’ will be happy that Kevin Costner is back with a real Western, many are also wondering what this means for the popular series in which he has been starring since 2018. . It is already a fact that Costner will essentially turn his back on ‘Yellowstone’ and therefore the TV phenomenon in its current form will end after the second part of the fifth season, which is still pending. – only to be followed up with a sequel series without Costner.
By way of explanation you can always read that Costner ultimately preferred ‘Horizon’ to ‘Yellowstone’. But that’s only half the truth. There were always planning problems because of the work on “Horizon”. While Costner would have ultimately tried to coordinate production plans, the no less busy series creator Taylor Sheridan (who currently has several hit series running in parallel) was apparently not so willing to compromise. Sheridan insisted on splitting the fifth season into two, which made Costner’s continued involvement more difficult and apparently escalated tensions between the two to the point where the series’ departure became inevitable despite its success.
The question now remains in what capacity we’ll even see Costner as ranch patriarch John Dutton in the remaining six “Yellowstone” episodes, which are expected to begin in November 2024. Will he at least drop by again for a smaller appearance or will his character have to say goodbye without his star? Only the coming months will provide answers to this. In any case, ‘Horizon’ will offer a concentrated replacement for Costner from the summer onwards.