Kevin Costner film Horizon: An American Saga FLOPS at box office

Director/star Kevin Costner‘s $100 million gamble – Horizon: An American Saga – has seemingly not paid off at the box office with a rather tepid debut.

The Western film – the first in a four-film series – could only muster $11 million in third place, according to Deadline. 

The film earned a rather mild reception from critics as well, with just a 40% rating from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

Disney’s animated sequel Inside Out 2 managed to pull off a three-peat at the box office, taking the top spot for a third week in a row, fending off a hot newcomer.

Inside Out 2 dropped just 43.3% in its third week, earning an estimated $57.4 million this weekend.

The sequel debuted in mid-June with a whopping $154.2 million, dropping just 34.4% in its second frame to win with $101.2 million last weekend.

It managed to fend off Paramount Pictures’ prequel A Quiet Place: Day One, which debuted in second place with $53 million.

Inside Out 2 remained in 4,440 theaters, earning a solid $12,927 per-screen average in its third weekend. 

It has now grossed an impressive $469.3 million domestic and $545.5 million from foreign markets, pushing it past the $1 billion worldwide mark with $1.014 billion.

The sequel is a critical hit along with a commercial hit, scoring a 90% rating from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

The first movie – which debuted in 2015 – had a 98% RT score, earning $356.9 million domestic and $858.8 million worldwide from a $175 million budget.

As for Horizon, it remains to be seen how the lukewarm reception from both critics and the box office will affect the future of this potential franchise.

The second chapter in this saga will debut in theaters August, with the filmmaker planning two more films.

Production has already started in the third film, with the fourth and final film in development, though it’s unclear when that may start filming.

However if the second chapter bombs as well, there may be pressure to pull the plug entirely, though it remains to be seen if that will be the case.

This isn’t the first time that one of Costner’s passion projects has tanked at the box office, with Waterworld debuting to a weak reception back in 1995.

Considered the most expensive film ever made at the time with a whopping $175 million budget, Waterworld opened to just $21.1 million in late July 1995.

It earned just $88.2 million at the domestic box office though it fared much better in foreign markets with its $175.9 million foreign tally bringing the worldwide tally to $264.2 million.

Still the film wasn’t profitable at the time since film theaters take roughly half of the box office receipts, but it would ultimately become profitable after its home video release. 

Whether Horizon: An American Saga ultimately becomes profitable after its slow theatrical release remains to be seen.