Kevin Costner Talks HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA at Trailer Launch Event: “This isn’t Disneyland”

Desde Hollywood saddled up and participated in a special virtual event last week to take an early peek at the first trailer for HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA and hear from its director, co-writer and actor, Kevin Costner.

The film also stars Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Will Patton, Tatanka Means, Owen Crow Shoe, Ella Hunt and Jamie Campbell Bower.

The Civil War-era epic follows pioneers who adventured into the American West after the Civil War.The story will span across 15-year span, told in 4 different theatrical films. The first one will premiere in theaters on June 28, with part two opening just two months later on August 16.

On why he couldn’t let go of this story over 30-plus years.

“When no one wanted to make the first one, I got the bright idea to make four more. It’s hard to fall out of love. I don’t do that. [Films] that have a classic feel, they don’t fall out of touch either. I think they exist in any decade. That’s the opportunity we have with cinema; to make something that lasts past its opening weekend. I never banked on opening weekend; I banked on people wanting to revisit something. To me it was a story worth holding on to because it was a story I wanted to tell. It just grew and grew until suddenly I realized I just had to make it.”

On why it was important for him to have these films in theaters.

“I want people to feel in the dark that suddenly they just absorb themselves and take the ride. We all know what happens when the lights go out. Either it’s something good, something average or something great. What I hope is that this is something that stays with them forever […] I banked on people wanting to revisit something, wanting to tell something about it.”

On which production was the bigger challenge, Horizon or Dances With Wolves.

“This is by far the biggest struggle. I shot Dances for 106 days, I shot the movie you’re just seeing right now in 52. I did learn a lot and I was able to use every trick in the book to try to bring this movie to ground and to bring it to an audience. And there’s four of them!”

On portraying a more authentic depiction of the Old West and their people.

“I wanted it to step away from what we usually see in Westerns where there’s a town that’s already there. No one knows how (the town) came to be. There’s a guy who comes in off the horizon, if you will. We don’t know much about him, except that he has some skills that he’d like to put behind him and this town ends up needing those stills desperately. That’s a formula for the Western.Too often, it’s just a convenience for a hero guy to knock down a dumb guy. I’m drawn to the little things of what people had to endure. People came West, sometimes with a lot of hope, bringing their family, and others came West because they were damaged and were running away from something. Nobody knew who each other was. Some people got lucky and some were unlucky, but that’s how this country got settled.”

On the country’s Indigenous population being “crushed,” and the resilience of women.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever come to terms with that myself. I don’t know if I’m ashamed or embarrassed, but I want to project what really happened. A great injustice occurred in the West, but it doesn’t minimize the courage it took for my ancestors to actually cut loose and go there. I recognize the resourcefulness it took. The bravery it took to leave and make this march across our country … It’s our history. I love it. I know that I can enjoy watching a movie like this if I feel like I can see myself in it, and I tried really hard for that to happen. Westerns are in fact complicated, because this isn’t Disneyland. These are real lives, people just making their way, women just trying to keep their families clean, fed and basically worked to death. Women’s lives were short. All they did was have to work. And so I am drawn to that,””

Sinopsis: 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.