NEW YORK (AP) — The August theatrical launch for the second chapter of Kevin Costner’s bold Western epic “Horizon: An American Saga” has been canceled after the primary movie fizzled in theaters.

New Line Cinema introduced Wednesday that “Horizon: Chapter 2” is not going to hit theaters on Aug. 16 as scheduled. The studio had deliberate an unusually quick back-to-back launch for the 2 “Horizon” movies. However after the primary chapter collected a modest $23 million in its first two weeks in theaters, the distributor pivoted.

“Territory Photos and New Line Cinema have determined to not launch ‘Horizon: Chapter 2’ on August 16 with a purpose to give audiences a better alternative to find the primary installment of ‘Horizon’ over the approaching weeks,” a spokesperson for New Line stated in an announcement.

For now, the discharge of “Chapter 2” will likely be marked TBD on the theatrical calendar. The primary “Horizon,” which opened in theaters on June 28, will land on premium on-demand July 16. No streaming date on Max has but been introduced. The Hollywood Reporter first reported the shift in plans.

The transfer is a humbling acknowledgement that Costner’s huge theatrical gamble for his decadeslong ardour mission has didn’t catch on with audiences. The primary chapter of “Horizon,” which debuted in Might on the Cannes Movie Competition, value some $100 million to make, making its path to profitability extraordinarily difficult if not unimaginable. Costner put a few of his personal cash into it, and has already begun taking pictures a 3rd installment of what he envisions will finally be 4 films.

When requested in Might in regards to the films hitting theaters in fast succession, Costner stated, “The studio wished to strive that. I knew this was going to return out pretty shortly, like each 4 or 5 months. That will have been simpler. However that is one thing they really feel like individuals can bear in mind the primary one and it may tie into the second.”

Costner, who directed, co-wrote and co-stars within the movies, had been attempting to make “Horizon” for greater than 30 years. Whereas releasing the movie, Costner confirmed his exit from the hit sequence “Yellowstone.” The last word vacation spot of “Horizon,” he acknowledged, was at all times going to be on TV.

“They’re going to interrupt this up into 100 items, what I imply?” stated Costner. “After 4 of those, they’re going to have 13, 14 hours of movie and so they’re going to show into 25 hours of TV, and so they’re going to do no matter they’re going to do. That’s simply the best way we reside in our life however they’ll additionally exist on this type. And that was vital for me, to guarantee that occurred. And I used to be the one who paid for it.”