MOVIE NEWS – Kevin Costner’s ambitious western project has been struck by yet another lawsuit, raising serious doubts about whether Horizon will ever reach its intended conclusion. Mounting legal troubles and financial strain are now threatening to derail the entire saga.

Kevin Costner’s days riding high on the success of Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone feel like a distant memory. His passion project, Horizon, has faced an uphill battle from the start: the first film underperformed at the box office and then spent months hopping between streaming services in a bid to attract the audience it failed to find in theaters. With the release of Chapter 2 still unresolved, Costner has now been hit with another lawsuit, this time over unpaid costume expenses.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Western Costume has filed a legal claim seeking $440,000 in outstanding fees, along with additional compensation related to alleged damage to wardrobe items. As Costner continues to search for funding to keep production moving on the third installment, this latest financial dispute could represent a decisive blow to Horizon’s already fragile prospects.

This case is just one of several legal issues that have surrounded the production. Earlier this year, another lawsuit was settled after claims that costume rental costs for Chapters 1 and 2 had gone unpaid. Beyond that, Costner is also facing a separate lawsuit involving allegations of sexual discrimination, harassment and retaliation connected to an unscripted rape scene that was reportedly added at the last minute without the presence of a contractually required intimacy coordinator.

When Costner exited Yellowstone under controversial circumstances, he made it clear that Horizon was a project he was deeply committed to, envisioning it as one of the most ambitious undertakings of his career. Planned as a four-part epic chronicling the American West, much of the budget came directly from Costner himself before Warner Bros. eventually agreed to distribute the first film. That agreement did little to save the movie from box office failure, which soon led to Chapter 2 being pulled from its scheduled theatrical release.

Since then, Chapter 2 has already premiered, yet it still lacks a confirmed release date. The outlook for the remaining two films is even bleaker: production on Chapter 3 reportedly stalled after the project ran out of money, making the conclusion of Costner’s western saga seem increasingly out of reach.

Despite repeated setbacks, Costner has long insisted that he would see Horizon through to the end, regardless of the personal cost. That resolve now appears less certain. The strategy was to push Horizon: Chapter 1 to as many streaming viewers as possible in hopes of reviving interest and giving Chapter 2 a viable shot in cinemas. However, the prolonged silence has left the film in limbo. Whether Chapter 2 could ever match, let alone surpass, the performance of the first installment remains an open question. If a release date is ever announced, we may find out, but for now it seems increasingly likely that Horizon’s future may be confined to streaming—or quietly buried along a dusty trail.

Forrás: MovieWeb