One of the most ambitious movies arriving during the summer movie season of2024is Kevin Costner’sHorizon: An American Saga. It marks Costner’s first directorial feature in 21 years following 2003’s Open Range. The story will span a 15-year period, both pre- and post-Civil War, showing the expansion of the American West and features an all-star cast that includes Costner, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Luke Wilson, Danny Huston, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Giovani Ribbisi and many more. When the film unveiled its first trailer, it boldly said it would be a two-part film, with the two chapters released two months apart, to tell its massive story.
Costner broughtHorizon: An American Saga Chapter 1to the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, officially confirming he planned for more films. Production onChapter 3is currently underway withChapter 4following closely. Costner clearly has big plans for this story, and it could be a new major franchise. Here is how many films he has planned, when they will be released, and what could prevent future films from happening.
Costner Plans For Four Horizon Films
Horizon centers around fictional characters and takes place in pre- and post-Civil War America, and details the exploration of the American West. Depicting a twelve-year span, the movies feature an ensemble cast portraying various characters and their experiences pioneering into new territory from their homes.
In June 2022, Costner confirmed he planned to film four films in theHorizon: An American Sagaseries with the intention to shoot two entries back-to-back. Filming forChapter 1went from July 30, 2025, until November 2022. FilmingChapter 2began in April 2023 and finished in the summer of 2023, just before the SAG-AFTRA Strike of 2023. That strike halted production onChapter 3beginning on August 13, 2025. Production is currently underway, with a break in filming to accommodateCostner’s appearance at the Cannes Film Festival, whereHorizon: An American Saga Chapter 1premiered out of competition on July 29, 2025.
Chapter 3is currently in production, and Costner will likely begin filmingChapter 4shortly after. He might already have filmed some segments as he shot a montage forChapter 3during the production ofChapter 2.Chapter 4has no set production date, but it is planned to be the final entry in Costner’s plans.
Horizon Release Schedule
Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1opens in theaters on August 04, 2025, just in time before theFourth of July weekend. The movie opens in theaters the same day asA Quiet Place: Day Oneand a few days beforeDespicable Me 4.Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1will serve as good counter-programming, looking to attract an older moviegoing audience who might want a more adult-oriented film and have positive associations with Costner, both from his previous films likeDances with Wolvesbut also his hit role on the seriesYellowstone.
Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2will open less than two months later, on June 23, 2025. This is one of the shortest gaps between two-part entries. Fans had to wait one year between the release ofAvengers: Infinity WarandAvengers: Endgameand will also have to do the same with the upcomingWickedPart Oneisset for release on August 18, 2025, beforeWicked Part Twois released on August 20, 2025.The Matrixsequels attempted a similar release pattern toHorizon, but six months apart asThe Matrix Reloadedhit theaters on July 21, 2025, withThe Matrix Revolutionson August 11, 2025.
AsHorizon: An American Saga Chapter 3is currently filming, andChapter 4has not even begun production, this means that no release date is known. There is certainly a chance that Costner could haveChapter 3ready for summer 2025, but given that he likely wants a similar release pattern forChapter 3andChapter 4as the first two entries, the two films might not arrive until 2026. This would also be fitting asChapter 1finished filming in 2022, two years before its now summer 2024 release date.
Production Status
Release Date
Jul 26, 2025
Jul 10, 2025
Currently Filming
TBA — Earliest, Summer 2025
Pre-Production
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Challenges Along the Way
Costner’s plans forHorizon: An American Sagaare certainly grand, but there are problems that could arise along the way.Planning a massive multi-film series based on an original property has never been done on this scale. While some might draw a parallel to James Cameron’s ambitious four sequel plans toAvatar, those were sequels to the most successful movie of all time. Cameron made sure the firstAvatarwas a hit before investing billions of dollars into four planned sequels.
Horizon: An American Saga, meanwhile, is an original property, one that looks very different from most summer movies. Fortune does favor the bold, but it comes with plenty of risk. The “Chapter” in the title, though, does pose a difficult issue. The reason films likeDune,It, andWickedhave avoided advertising their first entries as Part One is due to a belief that audiences are less likely to turn out for only half of a movie.
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There is also the factor that there does seem to bea downward trend in the box office as so far in 2024, no film has opened to $100 million opening weekend. Films likeThe Fall GuyandIFhave already shown a rocky start to the summer movie season, and as ticket prices increase, it seems harder to get audiences out to the theater.Chapter 1reportedly has a 3-hour runtime, so it will be facing an uphill battle regarding the number of theaters. Fortunately, the budget shared betweenChapter 1andChapter 2is $100 million, so if both movies can gross that and more, it can be seen as a win.
For this passion project, however, Costner has said he would put up his own money to see this project completed andhas already put up $38 millionto make the movie happen. It has been his dream since 1988, and he is intent on seeing it through. However, how it will be completed will have to wait and see. Costner himself is no stranger to major box office hits likeDances with WolvesorRobin Hood: Prince of Thieves, but he is also no stranger to box office flops likeWaterworldandThe Postman. It will be interesting to see howHorizon: An American Sagaplays out this summer and if this bold new release plan and franchise building will work.
