Kevin Costner Gets Emotional at ‘Horizon’ Premiere as Film Faces Negative Reviews

Kevin Costner became emotional after the premiere of his passion project, Horizon: An American Saga, at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday night. The acclaim was short-lived, however, as negative reviews of the film began to emerge soon after.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, audiences inside the Grand Lumiere Theatre seemed to love Costner’s $90 million, 181-minute epic. The star, writer, and director partially self-financed the picture, the first in a planned four-part series. The second installment hits theaters in August, seven weeks after part one’s June release.

The 10-minute round of applause ended when a visibly emotional Costner made his way to the front of the auditorium and took the microphone. “I’m sorry you had to clap so long for me to speak,” Costner began. “It’s not mine anymore. It’s yours,” he said of the film. “I knew that the minute this was over. And that’s the way it should be.”

The Yellowstone star has taken a significant risk on Horizon, a project more than 30 years in the making. Costner poured $38 million of his own money into the film, reminiscent of his commitment to his renowned Dances with Wolves. Many are saying Horizon’s first part needs to impress at the box office to justify Costner’s expense and the forthcoming installments, but the auteur isn’t worried.

“I think movies aren’t about their opening weekends, they are about their lives,” Costner told the crowd at Canne. “And about how many times you are willing to share it. And I hope you do share this movie with your sweethearts, with your children.”

Unfortunately, critics were much less enthusiastic about the film than many in the audience. The Hollywood Reporter called it “a clumsy slog…It plays like a limited series overhauled as a movie, but more like a hasty rough cut than a release ready for any format. This first part of a quartet of films is littered with inessential scenes and characters that go nowhere, taking far too long to connect its messy plot threads.”

Variety wrote that Horizon “doesn’t feel like a movie. It feels like the seedbed for a miniseries. Much of what happens is wispy and not very forceful; the film doesn’t build in impact, and it seldom seems to aim in a clear direction.”

The Guardian was the most damning, writing: “After three saddle-sore hours, Kevin Costner’s handsome-looking but oddly listless new western doesn’t get much done in the way of satisfying storytelling. Admittedly, this is supposed to be just the first of a multi-part saga for which Costner is director, co-writer, and star. But it somehow doesn’t establish anything exciting.”

Horizon: Part One is due for release on June 28, with Part Two arriving August 16. You can check out Part One’s trailer below.