Kevin Costner’s Epic Western ‘Horizon: An American Saga’ Will Be On Sale For International Buyers At AFM

EXCLUSIVE: A surprise project has emerged to whet the appetites of hungry international buyers at next week’s American Film Market: Kevin Costner‘s big-budget Warner Bros Western Horizon: An American Saga.

The two-part project is being sold to international buyers by recently rebooted German-based sales firm K5 International.

Chapters 1 and 2 of Horizon have been set by New Line to open domestically in cinemas on June 28, 2024, and August 16, 2024, respectively. That strong theatrical commitment is something that will appeal to international buyers, and some we’ve spoken with are already enthused about getting a sighter at a big-budget movie from an Oscar winner like Costner, even if prices are inevitably high.

We hear that Costner himself will likely take a view on offers in major territories, which isn’t unusual for an A-list director-producer working on a passion project, especially given that he has reportedly put a chunk of his own money into it.

Horizon returns the Yellowstone star to the Civil War backdrop he previously visited in his multi-Oscar winner Dances With Wolves. The pic follows the 15-year span of pre- and post-Civil War expansion and settlement of the American West. Experienced through the eyes of many, the epic journey is fraught with peril and intrigue from the constant onslaught of natural elements, to the interactions with the indigenous peoples who lived on the land, and the determination and at many times ruthlessness of those who sought to settle it.

Costner directs and stars alongside a cast that includes Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Will Patton, Tatanka Means, Owen Crow Shoe, Ella Hunt and Jamie Campbell Bower. Producers are Costner, Howard Kaplan and Mark Gillard.

We understand that both parts of the lengthy movie are now in post-production.

After a hiatus from film sales, K5 Media Group’s sales arm K5 International returned in Cannes where the company revealed that it will have reps in Paris, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Berlin and Cologne. Sources indicate to us that K5 began talks about Horizon with a handful of buyers in Cannes. The company originally launched by Daniel Baur and Oliver Simon has previously repped titles including Anon, Land of Mine and Paterson.

AFM is expected to be a slightly quieter affair this year given the challenges posed by the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. Some pre-sales packages are starting to emerge, however, and there’s hope that there will still be a critical mass of options between new packages and movies that have already shot. Multiple projects announced in recent days have featured UK talent and are set to shoot in Europe to avoid SAG-AFTRA restrictions.

There’s a chance the strike could end in coming days or weeks and while that may come too late to launch some U.S.-oriented packages for AFM, it would certainly be welcome news for the film sales and distribution scene, which has been stifled like many other sectors during the industrial action.

K5, Warner Bros and reps for Costner declined comment.