Horizon Chapter 2 Gets Hopeful Release Update From Star 6 Months After Kevin Costner’s Western Sequel Was Pulled From WB’s Calendar

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 gets a hopeful release update from Isabelle Fuhrman. The sequel to Kevin Costner’s series of epic Western films was originally slated to release on August 16, 2024, before Warner Bros. pulled it from the release calendar. After debuting at the Venice International Film Festival, Horizon: Chapter 2‘s reviews have been largely negative, which does not bode well after the first movie’s poor box office performance and lackluster reception.

While speaking with ScreenRant about her new film Wish You Were Here, Fuhrman shared that she believes Horizon: Chapter 2 will be released soon. She clarified that she has not been told of a confirmed release date and that actors often are not told about such information in advance. Fuhrman also emphasized how meaningful it was to see Horizon: Chapter 2 at the Venice Film Festival alongside an audience and expressed her enthusiasm for the movie’s upcoming release. Check out her comments below:

I believe it’s coming pretty soon. I think they’re kind of massaging what’s going on with it, but I actually, as of now, haven’t heard anything. Actors are usually the last to know in these sorts of things. But I was really fortunate that we got to premiere it at Venice, and got to see it with an audience. And that was the first time I had seen the movie, and it was great. I’m really excited for people to see it, but this movie, to me, is so exciting that Wish You Were Here is coming out, because it is a film that I feel like we all put so much heart and passion into.

What This Means For Horizon: Chapter 2

It May Be Released In 2025

Even though Fuhrman does not have knowledge of a confirmed release date, her update is a hopeful one. Despite the movie’s three-hour runtime, Horizon: Chapter 1‘s ending is largely setup for the second installment of Costner’s Western franchise. The stories of Diamond Kittredge (Fuhrman), Hayes Ellison (Costner), and the rest of the characters still need to be continued and require a payoff that is yet to come but expected in Horizon: Chapter 2.

Fuhrman’s update hopefully means that Horizon: Chapter 2 will be released in 2025. With the movie already being finished, if it does not release in 2025, this could jeopardize the franchise’s entire future after production began on Chapter 3 and with Chapter 4 being in development. As evidenced by Fuhrman’s enthusiastic comments, Costner is not the only one who values the franchise being released as theatrical films, but whether his vision of all four films releasing in theaters can be fulfilled remains uncertain.

Warner Bros. Should Release Horizon: Chapter 2 Sooner Rather Than Later

Fuhrman’s update is one of the best yet for the future of Horizon‘s story and characters. Warner Bros. is understandably cautious about the franchise after the first movie did not perform well at the box office. However, the second movie has already been made and has already been shown at the Venice Film Festival. Warner Bros. should release Horizon: Chapter 2 in 2025, see how it does, and then decide from there whether the franchise should continue. Shelving a movie that has already been made is a harmful practice and should not become commonplace.

What Horizon: Chapter 2’s Reviews Say About The Sequel

Issues From The First Movie Are Still Present

At the time that this article is being written, Horizon: Chapter 2 has a 40% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. This is based on 10 reviews following the debut at the Venice Film Festival. One of the overarching issues noted by critics is that Chapter 2 still feels just as episodic as its predecessor, making it feel more like a scattered telling of anecdotes instead of telling a cohesive story. Another issue that remains is the runtime, as the sequel is also over three hours long.

Costner has been adamant about the importance of theatrically released films, and yet many critics assert that both the first and second movie feel more like a television series. That being said, some of the reviews do express admiration for Chapter 2 and the ways it improves on Chapter 1. One of these improvements is providing opportunities to allow the audience to better know and understand the characters, which is made possible by the extensive runtime. Credit is also given to the cinematography, which does justice to the story’s setting and to the Western genre.

The reviews indicate that Chapter 2 may not win over those who were left underwhelmed even by Horizon: Chapter 1‘s best scenes. The general reception may be more positive, though, especially since Chapter 1 has a 70% Popcornmeter score while the Tomatometer score is 51%. 10 reviews is a small sampling and general audiences deserve the chance to see Horizon: Chapter 2 for themselves and to form their own opinion about whether Costner’s franchise should continue.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes