Kevin Costner realizes his dream, Horizon – Chapter 2 will be presented at the Venice Film Festival

After seeing its American release cancelled, the sequel to the epic western fresco from the director of Dances with Wolves will get its revenge in Venice.

Quite a turnaround in favor of Kevin Costner : we have just learned that chapter 2 ofHorizon will be presented at the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival, which will take place from August 28 to September 7. The film will be screened following Chapter 1, shown as a world premiere at the last Cannes Film Festival –during which Costner had also declared that he would love to present the 2 in Venice (“I would love to present it at the Venice Film Festival, but I don't know if it will be possible, if the first part is at Cannes?”).

Following the flop of his self-produced western Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1a huge three-hour film and prologue to an immense saga, in American theaters on June 28, the distributor New Line had decided to cancel the theatrical release of Horizon 2 which was due to arrive on August 16. The same in France, where the film was due to be released on September 11. But since then, Horizon 1 is a hit on VOD…With this success and the selection in Venice, Costner's bet could almost turn out to be a winner, in short.

“I always dreamed of presenting Horizon 2 at the Venice Film Festival”Costner said in a statement. “The fact that they decided to show Chapter 1 during the day and then the world premiere of Chapter 2 the same night shows that not only do the two films work together but they also support a director's Vision. I am indebted to Alberto Barbera for his courage and decision to embark on this cinematic journey.”

Barbera, artistic director of the Venice Film Festival, had already welcomed outsiders from the cinema with Tea Palace by Roman Polanski last year – far be it from us to put on the same level the ultimate repulsive farce by the director of Rosemary's Baby and Costner's oversized project actually paid for this great western fresco out of his own pocket, shooting the first two films at the same time and mortgaging his assets.

The 81st Mostra has already revealed its selection, with the sequels Beetlejuice Beetlejuice And Joker: Madness for Twobut also the new films by Pedro Almodovar, Pablo Larrain, and Luca Guadagnino.

Pedro Almodovar, Pablo Larrain, Luca Guadagnino and more return to the 2024 Venice Film Festival

“It is a great pleasure and honor to host the world premiere of Horizon Chapter Two: An American Saga, alongside Chapter One.”said Alberto Barbera. “This late addition to the Festival lineup is a way of paying respectful and warm tribute to the visionary project of a great actor-director, who invested himself in this epic reconstruction of a crucial period in the founding of his country, digging beyond the myth in search of an authenticity capable of recreating a moment of history in its complex and contradictory reality.”

This decision, combined with the success of the film in streaming, will surely push the American distributor to reschedule the film in theaters with a new strategy. It remains to be seen the fate of Chapter 3, not yet shot. And that of 4? And the others that Costner promises? The 3 at Cannes 2025? The 4 at Venice 2026? To be continued in the next episodes of the backstage ofHorizon.

Horizon: An American Saga, Kevin Costner's Crazy Project [critique]