Kevin Costner's passion project ‘Horizon' ignites fresh legal battle after box office bomb
The Western, which Costner, 70, plunked several million of his own fortune into, is the focus of a new behind-the-scenes legal war, according to The Hollywood Reporter on Monday, May 12.
The alleged dispute is reportedly between New Line Cinema, Horizon Series (Costner's loan-out firm), and City National Bank.
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8 Kevin Costner's $100 million passion project tanked at the box office.
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8 'Chapter 1' was supposed to be the first of four films in the Western franchise.
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City National Bank allegedly filed the arbitration against both companies. New Line responded with a crossclaim seeking repayment from Horizon Series as part of its defense, per THR.
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New Line Cinema and Horizon Series reportedly had a deal that required them to repay a portion of the financing.
New Line Cinema allegedly believed it covered a portion of the payment that their partner didn't pay. However, City National Bank reportedly thinks it's owed more.
Sources told the outlet that Horizon Series and New Line Cinema are in a stalemate over the cofinancing agreement.
8 Now, several companies involved with the project at reportedly at war.
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8 Kevin Costner put several millions of his own fortune into making the movie.
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New Line Cinema declined to comment. The Post reached out to City National Bank, Horizon Series, and Costner's rep but did not immediately hear back.
The 'Yellowstone' alum previously said his personal investment for 'Horizon' was 'well above $50 million,' admitting he mortgaged '10 acres on the water in Santa Barbara where I was going to build my last house' for the passion project.
'Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1,' which Costner directed, starred in, co-wrote and used millions to finance, cost a whopping $100 million to make and only brought in a measly $11 million during its opening week.
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8 Kevin Costner started the passion project while on 'Yellowstone.'
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8 He played John Dutton on the hit cowboy series.
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The flick was set to be the first of four installments, with a follow-up to be released seven weeks after the franchise's debut. However, when it tanked at the theaters, the sequel's release was held.
While the fate of 'Chapter 2' is unknown, 'Chapter 3' started filming last year despite allegedly not being fully financed.
Last year, Costner spoke about the struggles of financing his Blockbuster dreams.
8 Kevin Costner was unable to film the second half of 'Yellowstone' Season 5 due to scheduling conflicts.
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'I need some more money — I do. I need some of these big billionaires, with f—ing boats 'from here to here' who are fond of telling people they're billionaires to come with me and make a movie,' the star said on THR's 'Awards Chatter' podcast. 'I don't have the money they have and I've already made two of 'em. Where are you rich guys?'
Meanwhile, fans weren't happy with Costner after he backed out of the second half of the 'Yellowstone' final season due to scheduling conflicts with 'Horizon.'
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8 He later addressed the controversy, claiming there was 'no script' for him when he arrived to shoot 'Yellowstone.'
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The actor, who played John Dutton in the cowboy series, later addressed the issues. He claimed he had a small window of availability to focus on 'Yellowstone' but 'there was no script.'
'What you read in the end was that I said, 'Well, look, I'm doing my movie. If you want me to work a week because you want to kill me or whatever else, I can give you a week,'' Costner told Deadline. 'I really didn't have that week to give them, but I said, I'll do that. And then they [spun that] into, I only wanted to work a week.'
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He insisted that he 'made Yellowstone the first priority' and claimed 'to insinuate anything else would be wrong.'
'Yellowstone' aired its final episode on December 15, 2024, after five seasons, with the series sparking several spinoffs.
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