New Line Cinema and Kevin Costner's Territory Pictures have announced that the Oscar winner's Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 will make its streaming debut Aug. 23 exclusively on Max.
The second installment was originally envisioned as a four-film Western epic that was initially supposed to hit theaters on Aug. 16, but the poor box office reception of the first, which debuted to just $11 million on June 28, caused the studios to pull the sequel from its release date.
The strategy shifted to bringing the film to streaming in hopes of finding an audience and building anticipation for future theatrical releases.
A synopsis of the film says, "Horizon: An American Saga explores the lure of the Old West and how it was won — and lost — through the blood, sweat and tears of many."
It continues, "Spanning the four years of the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, Costner's ambitious cinematic adventure will take audiences on an emotional journey across a country at war with itself, experienced through the lens of families, friends, and foes all attempting to discover what it truly means to be the United States of America."
Director, producer and co-writer Costner stars alongside Sam Worthington, Sienna Miller and Giovanni Ribisi. The movie's ensemble also includes Abbey Lee, Will Patton, Jena Malone, Michael Rooker and Costner's Yellowstone nemesis Danny Huston.
On Sept. 7, the Venice Film Festival will screen both the first and second chapters of Costner's pet project, for which he reportedly invested tens of millions of dollars of his own money to see to its fruition.
As reported, he said the festival's closing-day double-bill "shows not only their belief in how the two films work together but their support of a director's vision."