I will be the first to admit that I called Kevin Costner‘s Horizon a “passion project.” To be fair, the man began working on this movie in 1988, so, yes, he is passionate about it! You don’t work on something for over 30 years just to be stubborn, even though Costner is known for being a little stubborn.
But apparently, he does not like to admit that he has passions, aside from banana milkshakes. After fans and critics called Horizon: An American Saga Part 1 a passion project, Costner wasn’t super happy.
“Calling it that actually minimizes it,” Costner told AARP. He went on to say that he is passionate about all of his work. Does that include Yellowstone? Who knows.
He added, “I’ve been passionate about a lot of things that I’ve done. This is a good idea about America. People came west. It’s part of our legacy. I just believed in it so much that I put my money into it, but I’ve had that belief about everything in my life.”
So why did it take so long? Maybe his passion died down after nobody wanted to fund the expensive franchise. “I commissioned a script in 1988, and we kept fiddling with it and finally tried to make it in 2003. But I wanted more money than the studio was willing to pay. I was disappointed. After that I sat down with a new writer, and I became a cowriter. And we began to expand and reengineer everything,” he explained. That’s passion!
Horizon: An American Saga Part 1 hit theaters earlier this summer, but due to poor reviews and a bad box office debut, Part 2 will not get a theatrical release. Good thing Costner doesn’t care! He said, “Movies aren’t just about opening weekend. Ten years later, a good movie will still be shared. Success is: Will you revisit it and show your daughter, show your son? Will you revisit it because you wonder about it, because you find new details? Those are the measures.”
It’s unclear if anyone will share Horizon a decade from now but hey, cult classics are born every day. You never know what will work 10 years down the line. All we can really do is assume that there will be at least three more Minions movies by then.
(Via AARP)