Movies News Talk
Kevin Costner's Western epic, Horizon: An American Saga, is finding fresh life on Video On Demand (VOD) platforms while its reception in theatres is underwhelming. Horizon: An American Saga has ascended to the top of the VOD charts despite critical and audience mixed reviews as well as a box office performance far below expectations, casting doubt on the movie's viability for success.
Horizon: An American Saga currently ranks first on the Itunes and Fandango At Home VOD charts, according IndieWire. Based on transaction count, the iTunes chart shows a snapshot of Monday, July 15th; the Fandango at Home chart, ranked by income, spans the week of July 15th to 21st. Despite its initial box office problems, this great performance on VOD points to the film's finding of an audience ready to interact with its story.
Although it's hard to measure the financial influence of VOD performance, Horizon: An American Saga's popularity on these venues is noteworthy. Though Horizon is holding ground against other recent releases, implying a degree of consistent interest, new VOD releases often top these charts. Given that Warner Bros. Pictures, the movie's distributor, postponed the release of Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2 to let for more audience involvement with the first installment, this performance is especially noteworthy.
For Kevin Costner and Warner Bros., the VOD success of the movie is definitely encouraging. It's yet unknown, though, whether this success will be sufficient to offset the box office losses for the movie. Horizon: An American Saga reportedly had a $100 million production budget; although Variety has stated $100 million, The Numbers notes a $50 million budget. The movie would have to make noticeably more money than its present box office gross of $32.6 million globally to break even. Achieving profitability will be difficult even with a strong VOD run given the mixed reception from viewers and critics.
Although the VOD performance of Horizon: An American Saga is commendable, the movie has several obstacles in order to be successful over run. Its reputation has surely suffered from its box office collapse and mixed reception, which makes attracting a larger audience challenging. Although the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is higher than that of the critics, it is only 70%, thus the Cinemascore of the movie is a B-, which emphasizes even the conflicting reception. The success of the movie on VOD will have to be maintained over a long time to overcome obstacles and create the money required to pay back expenses.
The first of a four-film scheduled series is Horizon: An American Saga. Delayed indefinitely with the second installment, Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2, the future of the franchise remains unknown. The VOD success of the movie gives the franchise some hope since it indicates that, in spite of all the difficulties, an audience is eager in the narrative. It remains to be seen whether the popularity of the movie on VOD will be sufficient to bring the franchise back alive and guarantee the manufacturing of next projects.
Horizon: An American Saga is succeeding on VOD platforms despite a dismal box office showing. Though it wasn't first welcomed by theatergoers, this performance suggests a possible audience for the movie.
Long-term popularity of the movie is yet unknown, though. It struggles to turn a profit, and the intended four-film series' future is still unknown. The success of the movie on VOD will have to be maintained over a long time to overcome these obstacles and create the income required to pay back the expenses.