It has taken Kevin Costner (69) all of 35 years to get the western project off the ground. Now he is ready – with his son Hayes (15) on the team.
Tuesday 27 February at 13:56
The short version
- Actor Kevin Costner now launches “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1”, first film in a four-part western series
- Cinema premiere on 28 June, son Hayes (15) debuts as an actor
- Costner has worked on the project for 35 years, and is a director, producer, lead actor and screenwriter
- The films in the series take place over a 15-year period, and are his most demanding project ever
- Costner’s “Yellowstone” colleague Danny Huston (61) is on the cast list. So does Sienna Miller (42)
Sea view
Costner is done with the hit series “Yellowstone”, but the cowboy life continues for the recently divorced Hollywood star.
“Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1” has its cinema premiere on 28 June and is the first film of four in the western series. Costner has helped write the script, in addition to being the director, producer and lead actor.
To say that the film series is an old dream is not to take it too seriously. Costner has been brooding over the project since the 80s.
So the idea was already 20 years old before the son was born.
Son’s first role
Warner Bros. released the first trailer from the film on Monday (see it at the top of the article).
There you get a glimpse of Costner’s second youngest child, 15-year-old Hayes, who he has with his ex-wife Christine Baumgartner (49).
END: Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner at the Oscars in 2002. Now the marriage is over. Photo: Evan Agostini / AP / NTB
Hayes Costner makes his acting debut in the film. His mother is played by Sienna Miller (42).
Costner has seven children, and the three youngest are with Baumgartner, from whom he recently separated. He has explained to People that putting his son on the cast was a conscious choice so that they would be able to spend time together.
The farm as security
Costner has according to Hollywood Reporter have put up his own ranch in Santa Barbara as a loan guarantee to make the budget go up, writes Toronto Sun.
– When no one wanted to make the film in the first place, I had the bright idea to make four, Costner recently stated in a zoom digital video transmission interview with selected press.
– For me, this was a story worth holding on to, because it was something I wanted to tell. It just grew and grew, until I suddenly realized that I just had to make it.
FILM VETERAN: Kevin Costner, here at a premiere in Los Angeles in 20019. Photo: TOMMASO BODDI / AFP / NTB
The public doesn’t have to wait long for “Horizon – Chapter 2”, because the next one comes already 2 months after the first one – i.e. in August.
The film veteran is keen to create something that lasts “longer than the opening weekend”.
– I have never bet everything on an opening weekend, but rather on making something that people want to see again and again.
“Horizon” is Costner’s fourth time in the director’s chair. The first time was with “Dances with Wolves” in 1990. This was followed by “The Postman” in 1997. But it has been over 20 years since the last time – with “Open Range” in 2003.
COWBOY: Kevin Costner has played John Dutton in “Yellowstone” (pictured). Now comes more westerns. Photo: AP
Costner describes “Horizon” as his most demanding project ever, considering the 35 years it has taken to put the plans into practice.
But he is “shocked” by what they have achieved.
– We spent 106 days filming “Dances with Wolves”, but this was filmed over 52 days, he says to Variety.
The “Horizon” films span a 15-year period – and take place before, during and after the civil war.
2019: Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgarnter with their children Grace, Hayes and Cayden at the premiere. Photo: Rodin Eckenroth / AFP / NTB
Among the other actors who appear, Costner’s “Yellowstone” colleague Danny Huston (61), as well as Sam Worthington (47), Tatanka Means (39), Jena Malone (39), Abbey Lee (36), Luke Willson (52) and Michael Rooker (68).
Incidentally, Hayes Costner is not the first of Costner’s children to play opposite his father. Three of the others had roles in “The Postman”.
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