Kevin Costner's New Movie, Horizon, Is Being Split Into Four 2 Hour And 45 Minute Movies

Kevin Costner is a big ole cowboy, with a great familiarity with the American West. He's currently in the fifth season of "Yellowstone," which has spawned a whole lot of spin-offs. He directed "The Postman" in 1997. He directed "Dances With Wolves" in 1990, and "Open Range" in 2003. For his fourth directorial outing, he's heading back to the west for "Horizon." This isn't just any film though. It's very, very long.

According to Variety, this is going to be done as four movies, which will come out every three months or so. "Horizon" is going into production with Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema in August of this year, and the shooting schedule is 220 days. That's an awfully long time. 

My first thought was that he was going to make the mistake that every franchise makes, splitting things up too much just to get more cash. There was no reason for "The Hobbit" to be made into three films, as an example. However, Costner told the outlet that this film was sold as an "event television movie." He said, "what [the studio does] with it will really be up to them because things change really quickly in how people want to see things and what they want to do."

So, it's a series, then? I mean, the line is really blurring now. Look at "Stranger Things," for example. It's obviously a series, but the episodes are long, and the last two in season 4 are going to be almost feature length, with the final episode clocking in at over two hours. 

I love what he's saying about "Horizon," including the fact that this is a story that "really involves a lot of women, to be honest. There are a lot of men in it, too, but the women are really strong in 'Horizon,'" he says. Cool. I like that. He's also going to be focusing on Native tribes, which is also awesome. It all sounds fascinating, but when you get to the point that you have four installments of around two hours and 45 minutes each, with 170 speaking roles, what I believe you have is a series. Miniseries, maybe? We're talking 11 hours here, so that's more than a season of "Obi-Wan Kenobi." 

I guess it no longer matters how we divide things up now. We don't know where this will appear, or how we're going to be able to consume it yet, but here is a little more info. The first film will shoot in the fall, and the next three will happen at the same time, with an April 2023 start date. Somehow he's going to do "Yellowstone" in the meantime as well, though there isn't news on a sixth season of that show yet.