What’s at stake for Kevin Costner if ‘Horizon’ bombs?

In recent weeks ink of a coated wagon has been used on “Horizon: An American Saga,” the potentially disastrous three-hour cube roll that scribbler, producer, director and legend Kevin Costner will be making this weekend. That’s when the first of four planned action pictures set in the American West open in theaters.

You’ve almost certainly heard that movies — including the long-standing interest of a movie icon who most recently reclaimed his cultural relevance with the crash form “Yellowstone” — are expensive. The first part cost $100 million to make and a sequel will be made in the next few weeks. You’ve probably also seen headlines where Costner apparently noted that he spent $38 million of his own personal money to make the movies, an oddly candid disclosure by an A-lister who is known for betting on himself. Have been forced. You may have seen the projections from the Field Administrative Center, which predicted the film would make a troubling $10 to $15 million in its opening weekend, or the rating, which stood at a decidedly disappointing 40% on Rotten Tomatoes.

What you may not know now is the background story that led them to this era. It comes at an inflection point in traditional filmmaking in Hollywood – where directors like Costner and Francis Ford Coppola (including his lightning rod “Megalopolis”) had to be rejected in order to accomplish something bold that was commercially viable. Were not. Studio or streamer.

As it stands, the “Dances with Wolves” Oscar-winner mortgaged top undeveloped real estate in Santa Barbara, Calif. to complete his offer, and raised additional financing for the films through hidden buyers. Their longtime studio partner Warner Bros. is on board as rental distributor. On the other hand, the company is not spending any of its own personal money on “Horizon”, not even for advertising.

Costner’s saga, however, was first sold as two motion pictures. Warner Bros. came as a birthday party ahead of its 2022 merger with Discovery. Next up is WarnerMedia, whose CEO Jason Kilar gave his studio, Toby Emmerich, an order: offer one “quality movie” per hour exclusively for streaming, in line with the three resources typical for that regime. HBO Max used to be the fledgling provider of what is now called Max, and millions were being spent in search of content that could entice subscribers to compete with the likes of Netflix (with an additional three years in the form of streaming budgets What happens) There couldn’t be a more recent date than this as companies are struggling to monetize their platforms).

Insiders said, Emmerich and his team were approaching the project as a package acquisition, meaning Warner Bros. would be on board to finance both films. Costner would be a great choice for a straight-to-streaming film, and the actor used to be an organization man. Warner Bros. has preempted some of Costner’s career-defining films, including “JFK” and “The Bodyguard.” He was also recruited for franchise houses such as DC’s “Man of Steel”, playing the role of Superman’s adoptive father. However, after AT&T ended its terrible marriage with WarnerMedia and Discovery merged with the studio, the game changed. Costner is approaching his unheralded leaders Michael De Luca and Pam Abedy with a different vision — to not only give “Horizon” a bigger theatrical run, but also to produce two additional films, bringing the count to four films. . The films span a 12-year period before and after the American Civil Conflict, as a vast group of characters seek a better life in the untouched plains.

Sources said Max’s streaming mandate for the films had changed overnight, although De Luca and Abdi wanted to respect the studio’s relationship with Costner. The package was briefly developed under the Warner Bros. label, the Untouched sequel, but the economics soon became troublesome (Untouched’s New York Times reported on this date that the studio had a small financial stake in the first two chapters of “Horizon” A consultant for the studio would not comment, although a source close to the film said the prices would be similar to the production bills for the Untouched sequence.

Costner was too bored to sketch his vision, and so he had to go out alone and figure out the price range. Manufacturing on the second “Horizon” mission received $14 million in tax incentives from Utah’s environment. Two insiders said that in exchange for distributing the film in the US and select global territories, Warner Bros. would receive about 8% of the “Horizon” box office’s earnings. Costner and his supporters are footing the bill for the advertising. Various film entrepreneurs spoke anonymously selection That said, the P&A spend on the film is definitely $30 million, which is about right for two properties like Locating the Situation. The studio had negative comments.

The Warner Bros. Motion Picture marketing team, led by Josh Goldstein, designed the campaign with Costner in live performance and made some interesting changes to attract audiences. Some exhibitors have purchased tickets for the first two installments of “Horizon” as a discounted pair or announced separate concessions to attend the sequel.

Costner himself has pursued a heavy amount of promotion in hopes of attracting a target audience of mostly adult males, who like his work as patriarch John Dutton on “Yellowstone.” That target audience pushed the show to 12 million viewers per episode, making it the single most watched show on TV. Resources argue that the demographic area will be rarely occupied under the supervision of the administrative center and, against all odds, could prove and spice up the opening weekend numbers. Costner’s press tour to connect with those crowds included baseball video games and country radio hits and cameos on morning presentations related to military bases.

There’s a subliminal message behind all of Costner’s stumping: He’s asking audiences to invest in and maintain the power of his personal fame, in the process of decrying consumer behavior and making his movie the watercooler age of streaming convenience and TikTok. Is saying. Distraction This message has been so insistent that even Population Fiction is writing stories about how “satisfied” Costner is with the studio support from Warner Bros.

Their marketing campaign is no longer as well-conceived as, say, Coppola’s — whose “Megalopolis” is a self-financed spectacle that sometimes borders on the avant-garde, and has been described as a business obsessed with revenue. Rejection has been adopted as and allergy by chance. Costner’s audacity also lies within the cool self-assurance he projects despite his popularity and immense potential for the pocketbook.

Costner’s representatives declined to comment for this story. This weekend’s regional administrative center impact will, perhaps, do all the talking.