Kevin Costner's Horizon: American Saga: Chapter 2 premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday to low reviews.
Horizon Chapter 2, the second of four intended chapters depicting the expansion of the American West, is co-written, starred, and directed by Costner.
After a disappointing $11 million opening weekend in North American theaters on June 28, Horizon Chapter 2 was withdrawn from its August 16 release date. The film's poor reviews added salt to injury.
Horizon Chapter 1 finished its domestic theatrical run on August 8 with $29 million. With $2.4 million in international ticket sales, the picture grossed $31.5 million worldwide.
After its Venice debut, The Hollywood Reporter's Leslie Felperin was among the first to assess Horizon Chapter 2.
Jessica Kiang of Variety, another Hollywood trade media writer, was irritated by Kevin Costner's ambitious Western epic Horizon Chapter 2.
“Despite often superb, old-school western technique, the second 3-hour-plus installment of Costner's passion project is just as unwieldy and bewilderingly scattershot as the first,” Kiang says.
Horizon Chapter 2, which screened out of competition, ended the 81st Venice International Film Festival.
The U.S. release date for Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2 is unknown.