Following Kevin Costner’s success in the highly acclaimed series Yellowstone, great things were expected from the actor, especially since he ventured into Western filmmaking with his 2024 two-part franchise starter Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1. However, although the sprawling Western epic had promised to be something fresh and groundbreaking, the film suffered a catastrophic blow at the box office.
This led netizens to express their disappointment in Kevin Costner, considering how the actor had previously created hype surrounding his Western epic. But surprisingly, when you look at the bigger picture, Horizon is far from an isolated failure. In the landscape of Hollywood cinema, where sequels and remakes are dominating the box office, there appeared several other original movies that sadly succumbed at the 2024 box office.
Kevin Costner’s Horizon Franchise Failed to Break Even in Theaters
Considering how Kevin Costner has made a successful career out of Western dramas (Let Him Go, Dances With Wolves, and The Highwaymen) the actor recently took on the challenge of directing his 2024 Western franchise Horizon: An American Saga. Therefore, narrating the tale from pre-and post-Civil War America, and detailing the exploration of the American West, Costner’s films depicted a twelve-year span, when people ventured into new territory from their homes.
Unfortunately, while Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 was initially expected to be an ambitious project, based on the marketing and hype it created, the two-part franchise starter eventually failed to pay off at the box office. Kevin Costner’s responsibility as both a director and leading man ended up being a major failure as the films opened to low box office returns. This led the actor to delay the release of the second film.
According to The Numbers, the cinematic adventure spanning the events that happened between the four years of the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, managed to make only 0.6 times its production budget. Made with an estimated $50M budget, the movie simply managed to earn around $31.49M at the global box office. Thereafter, while critics and audiences began slamming the movie, the blow suffered by the Horizon franchise seemed to indicate a larger trend affecting original films in Hollywood.
2024’s Shameful Record of Sequels Winning Over Original Movies
In the era of filmmaking dominated by sequels, prequels, remakes, and reboots, Kevin Costner’s Horizon franchise seemed to highlight how original films have been taking the silent blow at the box office, due to this disturbing trend. Therefore, while Horizon’s underperformance shocked a handful of people, it’s high time to realize that Costner’s film wasn’t alone in its struggle.
2024 witnessed a degrading trend where original, non-franchise films have failed to break even at the theaters. Beginning with Henry Cavill’s spy parody Argylle which created hype and even had an ensemble cast of Dua Lipa and John Cena, the movie failed to capture the audience’s attention, despite a significant budget. Made with an estimated $200M budget, Matthew Vaughn’s movie managed to earn back $96M (roughly 0.5 times the production budget).
Further, there’s The Bikeriders, which, much like Argylle, suffered a catastrophic blow at the box office, despite having notable talents like Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, and Tom Hardy. Exploring the rise of a fictional motorcycle club in Chicago during the 1960s, Jeff Nichols’ ambitious project was expected to make millions. But unfortunately, The Bikeriders had to suffice their theatrical run with a mere $35M collection.
Similarly, there’s Oscar-nominated director M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller Trap starring Josh Hartnett, which was initially expected to break even at the theaters. Given the popularity of Shyamalan’s previous films like The Sixth Sense and Old, the filmmaker’s 2024 movie was deemed to be a box office success. But much like the above-mentioned films’ failure streak, even Trap succumbed with $82M in global earnings.
Following this pattern, @DiscussingFilm revealed on X, how all of the Top 10 highest-grossing movies of 2024 have been sequels. Based on analysis reports from Games Radar, Inside Out 2, Deadpool and Wolverine, and Despicable Me 4 have taken up the top three positions on the list of box office successes. Despite previous controversies surrounding franchise fatigue, recent reports suggested that people are gladly choosing sequels and remakes over original projects like the Horizon movies.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 is currently available to watch on Max.
