Horizon: An American Saga Is Not As Successful As Yellowstone
While both are Westerns, Horizon: An American Saga didn't match the success of Yellowstone. The opening weekend numbers show the film as a flop. The first part of Horizon's intended four-part saga only made a fraction of the film's $100 million budget - $11 million, to be exact. Kevin Costner even contributed over $35 million of his own savings towards the film's budget, which is more than what the film made on its first weekend.
Yellowstone, however, is a television juggernaut that brought in almost 16 million viewers in its season 5 premiere. The contrast between the quality of the projects is significant, since Horizon: An American Saga failed to make a strong impression and lasting effect at the box office, making Costner's new Western struggle make his Yellowstone exit worse. Yellowstone's impressive and growing viewership emphasizes its dominance in the Western genre, drastically outshining the film in its debut.
Horizon's Rotten Tomatoes Scores Are Well Below Yellowstone's
The ratings for Horizon: An American Saga and Yellowstone highlight a difference in reception in both audience scores and critical reviews. Horizon debuted with one of Kevin Costner's worst Rotten Tomatoes scores with a 41% critical rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, indicating a mixed response. By contrast, Yellowstone has a praise-worthy 84% on Rotten Tomatoes and 8.7/10 on IMDb, reflecting widespread approval from audiences and critics.
The compelling character narrative and storytelling in Yellowstone set a high bar in the Western genre, one that Horizon has struggled to emulate and achieve in its three-hour runtime. The differences in ratings reflect the gap in audience engagement and quality between Horizon: An American Saga and Yellowstone. The compelling character narrative and storytelling in Yellowstone set a high bar in the Western genre, one that Horizon has struggled to emulate and achieve in its three-hour runtime. The stark contrast in ratings between the two projects clearly positions Horizon as a brutal reality check for Kevin Costner after his Yellowstone exit.
Horizon Might Struggle To Finish Kevin Costner's Story
Unless the second movie in the Horizon: An American Saga franchise has a substantial improvement from this first installment, it may be increasingly difficult - and unlikely - to have the needed funds and viewers for the next three films. Capturing an audience that's tailored to the Western genre will bring in the necessary box office returns, and only then will the future of the franchise mend from its devastating performance on opening weekend.
The film faces challenges for the future since Kevin Costner's intended four-movie Horizon franchise had a lackluster performance at the box office. The monetary reception hasn't generated enough revenue to make up for the film's budget - and box office prospects for Horizon are reportedly getting worse - so if the rest of the franchise follows in the footsteps of the first installment, then Costner's vision might make his pockets empty. The financial shortfall casts a shadow of doubt on the franchise's feasibility.
