Stephen King Publicly Defends Kevin Costner's Horizon, Attacks the MCU
Admit it: you’re just as surprised by this turn of events as we are. Horror gets behind Western and all that. We’re in awe.
Kevin Costner risked pretty much everything on his Horizon: An American Saga movie series. He mortgaged his own house and threw about $50M from his personal treasury at this dream project, not to mention his leaving Yellowstone to make it happen. The first Horizon movie is finally out, but… It’s not doing that hot, really.
Some folks immediately took pleasure in mocking Costner, but that’s when the cavalry arrived: the master of horror Stephen King rushed to defend the filmmaker.
Stephen King Stood Up For Costner and Horizon
The opening weekend of Horizon Chapter 1 proved to be rather disastrous, with Kevin Costner’s latest movie only earning $11M back from its $100M production budget. This quickly saw many online dwellers ridiculing Costner and his project, but — surprisingly — it was Stephen King who took a stand and defended the director.
“[In German,] Schadenfreude is ‘taking pleasure in another’s misfortune.’ It perfectly describes many reactions I’ve read to Costner’s Horizon. Why in God’s name would anyone luxuriate in the failure of a film that isn’t a sequel or part of the, God save us, ‘Marvel universe?’” King asked on X (formerly Twitter), clearly frustrated.
The author’s fans largely supported him in the comment section, some delighted in his stand for Costner and others just happy he took a shot at the MCU. Many suggested that Horizon would still find success — either in the next few weeks, or on streaming, or as a timeless piece of art that is not “filmic fast food for the masses.”
Kevin Costner Was Ready for Box Office Failure
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Admittedly, the actor and director of Horizon was never counting on immediate financial success. Just before Chapter 1’s premiere, Kevin Costner spoke to EW about it — and revealed that in his book, it wasn’t about setting box office records or even breaking even. He was fully ready for such a turn of events, it appears.
“I’ve lived with movies and what happens to them on their opening weekend. If we put so much pressure on that, we’re bound to be disappointed. <...> Would I love that it would be highly, highly successful? Of course, I’d like that. My ego would like that; everyone would like that. But I am happiest that the movie that you and I are talking about looks the way I want it to look,” Costner shared.
Considering all the talk about the actor and director’s obsession with leaving a lasting legacy, this makes perfect sense. It’s not about the money when you’re throwing everything you have into it: it’s about creating a movie for the ages. Or, in the case of Horizon: An American Saga, four movies for the ages.
Source: EW