Horizon: An American Saga Release Date, Cast, Plot, Teaser Trailer And More Details

As the director of "Dances With Wolves" and "Open Range" and the star of the popular television show "Yellowstone," Kevin Costner is no stranger to a sweeping, grandeur-filled Western. Nor is he unfamiliar with a historical piece that attempts to boldly investigate the real — and sometimes ugly and brutal nature — of what life was like in the 19th century as the United States expanded from coast to coast. All that experience and all those ideas majorly factor into "Horizon: An American Saga," an extremely ambitious film series that Costner devised, co-wrote, directed, and helped finance. 

Costner — who will also star in "Horizon," his fourth-ever directorial project — has a complicated and lengthy story to tell, and he'll need four whole movies' worth of screen time to do it. "They're all different films that all connect, so you're watching a saga of these storylines that are happening," Costner told Variety of the quadrilogy, which boasts an astounding 170 speaking parts and takes place over a span of 15 years in the great American West, as white American settlers drive forward their idea of progress despite the longstanding presence and opposition of Indigenous peoples.

As the first entries in "Horizon: An American Saga" will arrive in theaters shortly, here's a look at everything there is to know about the thoughtful Western epic.

Post-production tasks associated with "Horizon: An American Saga," such as theatrical scheduling, coincided with star and director Kevin Costner's legally complicated and financially intensive divorce proceedings in 2023. Court documents relating to his split from estranged wife Christine Baumgartner revealed that Costner helped fund "Horizon" with his own money, to the tune of more than $20 million, getting the cash by mortgaging a 10-acre property he owns in Santa Barbara, California. That sum could wind up a relative and proverbial drop in the bucket, as "Horizon" is intended to ultimately last four movies in all. Production on films #1 and #2 has finished, with the third tentatively scheduled to resume in the near future now that the SAG-AFTRA strike has resolved.

"Horizon: An American Saga" will be a tentpole release for studio Warner Bros. in the lucrative, high-profile summer movie season — and twice, potentially. In October 2023, Warner announced that "Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1" will debut across North American movie theaters on June 28, 2024. The sequel will come along remarkably quickly (and when the original movie is still fresh in the minds of moviegoers), as "Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2" will hit cineplexes weeks later, on August 16, 2024.

On the surface, "Horizon: An American Saga" is a historical drama about the mass settlement of the American West — and the buildout of the United States — over a 15-year period just before and just after the Civil War. "America's expansion into the West was one that was fraught with peril and intrigue from the 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," co-writer, director, and star Kevin Costner told Deadline. "'Horizon' tells the story of that journey in an honest and forthcoming way, highlighting the points of view and consequences of the characters' life and death decisions."

"Horizon: An American Saga" isn't just about the "how" and "what" of the U.S., but also, according to Warner Bros.' first teaser trailer, "what it truly means to be the United States of America." And while the planned four-movie saga is set over a span of a decade and a half, the first two entries that will see a theatrical release in 2024 depict the years 1861 to 1865, the same years in which the American Civil War was fought.

The films won't provide a romanticized, male-focused version of history, as has often been the case with Westerns. "It's a really beautiful story; it's a hard story. It really involves a lot of women, to be honest," Costner told Variety. "There are a lot of men in it, too, but the women are really strong in 'Horizon.' It's just them trying to get by every day in a world that was impossibly tough."

Just before filming on "Horizon" began in Utah in August 2022, star Kevin Costner was joined by Jamie Campbell Bower, fresh off his breakthrough role as Vecna on "Stranger Things," and Sienna Miller, costar of "American Sniper" and "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra." Sam Worthington, jumping from the sprawling "Avatar" franchise into the similarly grand "Horizon," also announced that he would play a significant role in Costner's Western. "I am very excited and humbled to go on this incredible and important journey with Kevin," Worthington said in a statement. 

In the coming days, "Spider-Man: No Way Home" villain Thomas Haden Church signed up for the movie, as did Luke Wilson of "Stargirl" and "Idiocracy." Next to join the cast, there was Jena Malone ("The Hunger Games" series), Alejandro Edda ("Narcos: Mexico"), Tatanka Means ("Reservation Dogs"), and Michael Rooker ("Guardians of the Galaxy").

Rounding out the very big main cast of the very big "Horizon" cinematic undertaking are Danny Huston ("American Horror Story"), Oscar nominee Kathleen Quinlan ("Apollo 13"), Abbey Lee ("Old"), Isabelle Fuhrman ("Orphan"), Jeff Fahey ("Lost"), Giovanni Ribisi ("Sneaky Pete"), Michael Angarano ("Oppenheimer"), and Dale Dickey ("Breaking Bad"). You can also expect to see Costner's 13-year-old son, Hayes Costner, and we'll no doubt receive more casting announcements as the first two "Horizon" movies approach.

Kevin Costner was among the most popular and bankable actors in Hollywood in the 1980s and early 1990s. After establishing himself as a leading man with classics and blockbusters like "The Untouchables," "Bull Durham," and "Field of Dreams," Costner successfully segued into work behind the camera. His 1990 feature directorial debut, "Dances With Wolves," won the Academy Award for best picture and the best director Oscar for Costner. He went on to helm 1997's "The Postman" and 2003's "Open Range," and so the first two "Horizon" films represent Costner's first directorial work in 20 years.

But "Horizon" predates all of Costner's directing pursuits. He's been slowly making creative progress on the saga since 1988, and he developed the screenplays for the first two films with Jon Baird. In 2015, Costner and Baird collaborated on the throwback adventure novel "The Explorers Guild," with the latter author also penning the books "Day Job" and "Songs from Nowhere Near the Heart." "Horizon" marks Baird's first narrative cinematic project.

On October 5, 2023, Warner Bros. unveiled a first and early look at "Horizon: An American Saga" in the form of a very brief teaser trailer. Clocking in at just over 40 seconds, the teaser primarily delivers information to get viewers excited about the film series based mostly on the presence and pedigree of Kevin Costner. Interrupting a panoramic view of beautiful American West rock formations, chyrons inform watchers that "Horizon" arrives "next summer," that it's the creation of "Academy Award winner Kevin Costner," and that it's "a two-part theatrical event" set for release in June and then August of 2024.

And then it's on to some actual footage from "Horizon." Costner appears in the distance in Old West period dress, in a long coat and hat and toting a shotgun while riding a horse. The video dramatically cuts to black before bringing back Costner, who frantically unloads his gun a few times toward the screen. That's all viewers get of "Horizon: An American Saga" at this time, as the rest of the trailer consists of a list of the big-name actors starring in one or both franchise entries, their arrival on-screen each heralded with another gunshot blast.

"Horizon: An American Saga" is a Western, and that classic genre of cowboys, ranchers, and wide open spaces is one that's been very good to Kevin Costner. After falling out of popularity in the mid-20th century, Westerns enjoyed a revival thanks to the actor and filmmaker's efforts in films like "Silverado," "Dances With Wolves," and "Wyatt Earp." Of course, the Western's recent popularity owes a lot to the Paramount Network series "Yellowstone." The most-watched scripted show on all of TV in the 2022-2023 broadcast season, the drama about the familial, political, and territorial issues surrounding the Dutton Ranch returned Costner to Hollywood's A-list (and won him a Golden Globe). "Yellowstone" proved so popular that it afforded Costner the chance to make "Horizon: An American Saga" ... which in turn severely jeopardized the future of "Yellowstone."

Costner played John Dutton, sixth-generation rancher turned Montana governor, through five seasons of "Yellowstone." When producers opted to break up Season 5 of "Yellowstone" into two distinct parts, Costner was obligated to accommodate by changing the shooting schedule of "Horizon: An American Saga." Creative differences and professional issues like script delays led Costner to say he'd make himself available to film the first part of Season 5 of "Yellowstone" for just 65 days and later 50. For the second half of the season, he only wanted to shoot for a week. Due to this behind-the-scenes drama, Costner ultimately left the series, with creator Taylor Sheridan opting to end "Yellowstone" and move on to a sequel show without Costner and with Matthew McConaughey.