How Kevin Costner's 'Horizon' Became The 'Divergent' of Epic Western Franchises

'Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 2' is about as good as its predecessor, but it's even less of a stand-alone film, rendering it far less commercially viable to distributors.

Rejoice, for I (not you) have seen Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 02! The second part of Kevin Costner’s (theoretically) four-part western spectacular was screened (sans any WBD logo) at last weekend’s Santa Barbara Film Festival. I have no clue if or when the 164-minute “part two of four” will ever see the conventional light of day. So it was something of a now-or-never situation. Having watched the film, I certainly understand its current distribution hurdles. With an unfinished third film and a yet-to-be-started fourth in limbo, Chapter 2 has even less commercial value than just the kick-off chapter. Watching Horizon 01 and Horizon 02 only to have your journey end there is akin to starting a television show that everyone knows got canceled on a cliffhanger.