Why Did Kevin Costner’s New Western Movie Flop?
Kevin Costner’s Horizon movie has flopped at the cinema. The sequel to the movie, Horizon 2 is being delayed as a result. New Line Cinema has made the call in an attempt to give audiences more time to watch the first movie, before releasing the second.
Western Movies are Becoming Increasingly Popular
Western movies and TV shows are soaring in popularity. Yellowstone also stars Costner and is proving to be a hit with fans. It has also led to the creation of several spinoffs, including 1883, an origin story, and Madison. Western games are also proving to be popular, with hit titles including Red Dead Redemption. We’re even seeing this sub-genre capitalized on in slot games like Wanted Dead or a Wild slot UK. Games like this tend to feature classic Western elements, including bandit masks, money, trains, and wild horses. They encompass everything that makes Western movies so great while allowing you to immerse yourself in the culture. Even though modern movie fans and gamers love Westerns, with shows like Yellowstone attributing to the success of the genre, that brings around the question. Why did Horizon flop at the cinema?
The Movie Felt More Like a TV Show
Critics have said that the movie feels more like a TV show than a movie. Some say that the movie, which is over 3 hours long, has a poor story. The huge cast also made it feel like it should have been a series, with a lot of unclear relationships and poor editing. Critics felt as though more time was needed to explore the characters in depth. Territory Pictures, in partnership with New Line Cinema, have come to the agreement that they need to change their ambitious release date for the sequel as a result of this. They also want to give fans more chances to see the first installment before releasing another one.
Even though critic reviews tend to be low, audience scores were very high. Although there are flaws and the soundtrack doesn’t live up to the sprawling epic as much as it should, it has a lot of potential. It was an ambitious project too, with Costner putting down a lot of his own money to ensure the success of the movie.
One change the writers could make with the movie series going forward is having less complex characters as part of the storyline. The main reason for this is that there simply isn’t enough time in a movie to explore them all properly. Their approach for the movie likely came off the back of Yellowstone’s success, but when creating a movie, you do need to make sure that you refine the characters and the story, as you’re working with less time and need to focus on making scenes as engaging as possible.
Costner is said to have experienced quite a big loss as the result of Horizon’s flop too, so it’s going to be interesting to find out if changes are going to be made to the second movie from an editing standpoint, or if a delayed release is going to give audiences the chance to come round.
