Why Horizon’s Box Office Never Really Mattered

Without a doubt, Kevin Costner. Horizon The series is one of the most ambitious film projects in recent memory. Conceived as a single story divided into four films, the first chapter of the series hit theaters on June 28. The three-hour epic did poorly at the box office, leading to the film being generally considered a flop by audiences.

The main complaint was a feeling of “not being finished” with HorizonThis meant that many moviegoers felt that the film was only there to pave the way for the overall story and not as a standalone film. This box office struggle led to Chapter Two The film has been pulled from its original August 16 release date. However, viewers are upset that Horizon“Its structure when it does exactly what it was supposed to do.”

We could never get the full story. Horizon Chapter One Because that's not the way Horizon The movie is designed. The entire story takes four movies, which doesn't seem to please instant gratification lovers. While not everyone feels this way, many who have seen the movie haven't. Horizon Chapter One I was impressed by the way something greater than just a single movie story was set up. However, To immediately label the entire franchise a failure is premature. Horizon He deserves a chance to prove himself..

Horizon is not a traditional western.

Horizon

2/5

release date

June 28, 2024

Studios

Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, Territory Pictures

Runtime

3s 1d

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Read our review

the Horizon The saga has been a passion project for Costner (though he might argue with that description) since 1988. It started as just one film, then a trilogy, then the quartet of films we know today. Costner kept adding more story and more films because his vision was not going to be limited to just one film. Here lies one of the problems..

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Going to the theater is a century-old ritual, and the audience knows what to expect. Go in and watch for about two hours, feel the story over, and it's over. Horizon This movie is different from other movies, it is not designed to be watched in one sitting. It is one story that is 8-12 hours long and is divided into four films. Usually the audience wants to feel some relief after leaving the theater, Horizon It did not provide that. This lack of a standalone story has led many to criticize it. Horizon Chapter One As a failureBut in reality, it only does what it was designed to do. Horizon It's unfair to see this one way or another when we only see 25% of the story. But today's audience doesn't want to wait.

From box office flop to streaming success

The “failure” theory seems to have gained momentum when Chapter Two The conference has been cancelled from its scheduled date of August 16. Horizon The film underperformed, and there were concerns that not enough people would return to the theater to see the sequel after just seven weeks. However, in July 2024, Warner Bros. released Horizon On the video-on-demand streaming service, those numbers told a different story. The film topped the charts during its release week, beating out other popular titles like Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Garfield movie. Those who were quick to delete Horizon As if failure had preceded itself.

This release proves that there is an audience for Horizonbut he may not be the type to go to the theater. Horizon Chapter One The movie is only three hours long. That's a long time to sit in a theater without any breaks. But at home, viewers can start and stop the movie as they please or rewatch it later. Horizon They are also likely to benefit from word-of-mouth promotion. After the theatrical disaster was over and people began to understand that Horizon Chapter One It seems they were more willing to give him a chance because they thought he would work as a setup rather than a standalone.

Costner and the filmmakers trusted that audiences would go to the theater and retain three hours of the story. Chapter TwoRelease him, then six hours until Chapter 3Finally nine hours until Chapter Four It all wraps up. Most audiences won't be able to watch the whole thing. Home media release allows viewers to set their own schedule without the hassle of a long theater visit. Movies can be broken down into smaller parts and rewatched to refresh their memory before the next one is released.

that way, Horizon It might be better if it was shown as a serialized TV series. Audiences don't watch shows like Dragon House With each episode expected to be a standalone story. However, Horizon The film was a theatrical release, and most audiences want a film to be able to stand on its own, even when it's part of a broader franchise.

Kevin Costner's Vision for the Horizon Film Series

Everyone who saw Horizon He is likely to have a different opinion on the release strategy.But ultimately, Costner made the series for himself. He built the series on a single story across four films because he wanted to deliver an epic Western theatrical experience. Critical and commercial reception came second to his desire to bring the story to the screen by any means necessary. The problem was that moviegoers didn’t share his vision. To satisfy the “instant gratification” audience, Costner had to deliver the story in one film that was over 10 hours long.But that would have happened if it hadn’t been absolutely impossible, and even the initial strategy of releasing the second film before the first had a chance to hit the streaming market may have been a misstep.

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while Horizon Chapter One Viewers had complaints, and many understood what Costner wanted to do with Horizon If you watched the movie knowing it wouldn't have a conclusion, you might have enjoyed it more. Treat it like the first quarter of a book or the first installment of a TV series. It builds to something greater, and if you stick around to the end, the reward will hopefully be worth it.

It's too early to say how Warner Bros. will approach the release strategy for the remaining chapters.Costner has invested a lot of money in the project, so abandoning theaters entirely seems unlikely. But perhaps a dual theater and video-on-demand strategy is best. Those who appreciate Horizon As an epic big-screen experience, there will be that option, and audiences who prefer to watch at home in smaller chunks can do so as well. Yes, its rollout has been rocky. This new strategy may be for the best, as Warner Bros. sees signs that Horizon The film may be an unexpected success. We can only wait to see how the rest of the films will be handled, but anyone who immediately dismissed the entire film as a failure probably missed the point. Horizon: An American Odyssey – Chapter One Available to rent or purchase on Apple TV, Prime Video, and Google Play.