Horizon: An American Saga tickets now on sale, but watch this underrated Kevin Costner western right now
Before Kevin Costner's new western premieres, check out his last directorial effort, the hidden gem Open Range.
Kevin Costner rides onto the big screen with a brand-new summer blockbuster movie in June with the epic Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1, with Chapter 2 set to follow in August. As of right now, movie fans everywhere can purchase their tickets for both parts of the western.
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. In addition to starring, Costner directed the movie and co-wrote the script with Jon Baird. The western features a large ensemble, with the likes of Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Abby Lee, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Will Patton, Tatanka Means, Owen Crow Shoe, Ella Hunt and Jamie Campbell Bower.
You can purchase tickets for Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 (premiering June 28) and Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 2 (premiering August 16) directly through Fandango. In addition, Fandango has a new feature, the Frontier Pass, which will give those who sign up access to new content related to the movies. If you sign up for the Frontier Pass and then purchase your ticket for Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1, you will receive a promotional code for Chapter 2.
If you buy your ticket but are now anxiously waiting for Costner’s new movie to premiere, let us recommend another movie you can watch in the meantime: Costner’s underrated 2003 western, Open Range. While his Best Picture-winning Dances with Wolves or his infamous flop, The Postman, get more attention, 2003’s Open Range has flown under the radar despite being a wholly enjoyable movie and classic example of the western genre.
The last movie that Costner directed before getting back behind the camera for Horizon, Open Range is an adaptation of Lauran Paine’s novel of the same name following a group of cowboys forced to take action when they are threatened by a corrupt lawman. In addition to Costner, the movie stars Robert Duvall, Annette Bening, Diego Luna, Michale Gambon, Michael Jeter and Kim Coates.
The two big highlights in my mind for this movie are a great performance by Robert Duvall and a spectacular climactic shootout. Though Costner himself is solid on screen and as a director delivers a classic-style western. While it may be on a smaller scale than the upcoming Horizon, that makes it no less worthy of an entry to the historic genre.
The critical consensus for the movie was good, as it is "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes; general moviegoers on the aggregator like it too, as it has an 84% positive score. But it was mostly overlooked at the time, with a late summer release date and making under $60 million at the US box office, which put it as the 47th highest-grossing movie of 2003.
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You can watch it right now at home, as Open Range is available to rent via digital on-demand platforms in the US, including Prime Video, Google Play, Apple TV, Fandango at Home and YouTube.
Get a sense of Open Range for yourself by watching the trailer directly below:
Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.