From Dances with Wolves to Open Range to Yellowstone, Kevin Costner has had an affinity for the west. He is going to continue to share that passion with an epic project set to arrive for audiences this Memorial Day. However, it’s not Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2. Instead it’s a new documentary series, Kevin Costner’s The West, set to air on History Channel.
The eight-part series is billed as offering “a fresh look at the epic history of the American West by delving into the desperate struggle for the land itself — and how it still shapes the America we know today.”
The docuseries will present the history of the west through different perspectives, utilizing historians and historical recreations to present information to audiences. The show is part of History Channel’s “History Honors 250” programming, which is recognizing the upcoming 250th anniversary of America in 2026.
Costner is an executive producer, and if the trailer (which you can watch below) is any indication, he may serve as host/narrator for the series as well. But while this new series is its own thing, it’s hard to look at it and not wonder about Costner’s other project, meant to depict the epic history of the American west — Horizon.
Horizon: An American Saga has long been described as Costner’s passion project, a four-part movie event that tells the story of a swath of characters as they all attempt to make their way to a town called Horizon where they hope to find a new life, but forced to take on various struggles and tragedies along the way. Costner co-wrote, directed, produced and starred in the movie, which is reportedly why he exited Yellowstone season 5 prior to its final episodes.
Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 was released in movie theaters on June 28, 2024, with its second part Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2 originally planned to be released just a month-and-half later on August 16, 2024. However, poor critical reception (read WTW’s Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 review) and box office resulted in that plan being scrapped. Instead, Warner Bros., the studio behind the movie, opted to get the movie on streaming to try and build out its audience before moving forward with Chapter 2.
The movie did find more of an audience on streaming, particularly when Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 was on Netflix. Yet we still have no idea when/if Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2 is going to come out.
The second part of Costner’s epic did screen at the 2024 Venice Film Festival and at the Santa Barbara Film Festival in February 2025. But according to the most recent report that we can find from Vulture, writing about the movie after they saw it at Santa Barbara, there is still no release details on Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 2; as far as the planned third and fourth chapters, it’s not clear if those productions are going to be finished.
Part of the biggest fault of Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 was that it felt disjointed and incomplete. Because of that there now is the risk that we won’t ever get to see Costner’s full vision to know if he could have pulled it off.
Whether or not Kevin Costner’s The West on History Channel is his new attempt to tell the story of the west that he wanted to share with audiences, it may be all we’re getting from the Oscar-winning filmmaker.
Kevin Costner’s The West premieres Monday, May 26, at 9 pm ET/PT on History Channel. Watch the trailer for the series directly below:
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