Kevin Costner's $38M Western Flop Lands On Netflix's Global Charts 6 Months Later

Six months after flopping at the box office, Kevin Costner’s epic Western is a hit on Netflix’s global top 10 chart. The small-screen neo-Western Yellowstone provided Costner with his biggest starring role in years, at least until he elected controversially to leave the series. In addition to making the Oscar-winner a streaming headliner, Taylor Sheridan's drama also served as a reminder of the iconic status its star attained back in the 1990s, thanks in large part to his work in Westerns.

Yellowstone's John Dutton actor first donned spurs in 1985’s Silverado, but didn’t take to the trail again until 1990’s Dances With Wolves. Serving as star and director this time, Costner found himself riding high at the Oscars thanks to the smash hit, winning Best Director and Best Picture. The newly-minted Western icon fumbled when trying to repeat that success, however. Wyatt Earp lost its box office duel with Tombstone, and the Western-inspired post-apocalyptic adventure The Postman went down even harder. 2003’s Open Range got Costner back in critics’ good graces, and was a modest theatrical success.

Costner’s Western Comeback Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 Hits Netflix’s Global Top 10

The Movie Grossed Just $38 Million At The Summer Box Office

Horizon: An American Saga gestated for decades before finally hitting screens in 2024 with Chapter 1. By the time of that release, the original idea behind the saga had been expanded into what would be a four-film epic, with a planned overall budget of $100 million. Costner’s personal stakes couldn’t have been higher this time around, after he admitted to sinking $38 million of his own money into his dream project. Chapter 1 failed to move the needle at the box office, however, grossing just a little more ($38.2 million) than Costner himself invested in the production.

Costner began developing Horizon's script way back in 1988, and in 2022 was announced as director of the four-part series.

The first installment in Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga may indeed have tanked in theaters, but viewers are now finding it on streaming, landing the epic Western on Netflix’s Global Top 10 chart (via Tudum). The streamer reports that in its first week, Costner’s 3-hour franchise-launcher racked up 12 million viewing hours on 4 million views, placing it at #7.

Our Take On Horizon’s Netflix Performance

Costner Thinks The Four Movies Will Eventually Be Embraced As Classics

Actor Kevin Costner and actress Sienna Miller imagery from Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1.

Horizon’s star/director faced a harsh response when the project was confirmed to be happening, as critics raced to brand his four-movie plan a folly. Costner quickly shot back at the naysayers, claiming that even if the first movie failed in its initial box office run, the full series would ultimately prove to have very, very long legs. As he told E! Online back in August, 2024:

"I've faced life with people being dismissive of me. But they can't be dismissive of Horizon, because now it's out of their hands. And they might point to the finish line—well, this is what it did at the box office—but I know that this movie is going to play for the next 50 years."

Eventual success may be in the cards for Horizon, but for Costner’s full epic four-parter to reach fruition, it needed immediate success. After the first installment’s weak box office performance, Warner Bros. delayed the release of Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2, which was supposed to come out in August. Another hit came when work on Chapter 3 was halted due to funding issues.

It’s yet to be seen whether all four parts of Horizon will ever come to pass. The project’s fate could indeed be in the hands of a streamer like Netflix, whose deep pockets could help Costner finish Chapter 3 and make Chapter 4. The films likely wouldn’t get a big theatrical release after that, but at least their creator would get to see his vision realized. Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 is off to a reasonably strong start on Netflix, and perhaps the suits there will keep their eye on its numbers, as they possibly consider partnering with Costner to finish up his sweeping historical saga.

Source: Tudum