Kevin Costner’s self-financed Western Horizon: An American Saga has bombed at the box office.
The movie is the first of four planned chapters, which tells a number of stories over the course of 12 years in the American West.
The first instalment, which also stars Sienna Miller, Jamie Campbell Bower, Sam Worthington, Ella Hunt, Isabelle Fuhrman and Jena Malone, was mostly financed by Costner himself, with the actor spending over $98million (£77million) of his own money on the project.
Now, the film has opened to poor box office sales, making just $11million (£8.6million) in the US (per Slash film).
Following its premiere at Cannes in May, Horizon was largely panned by critics, with The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney describing the film as a “a clumsy slog beyond saving.”
Peter Bradshaw gave the film just two stars in his review for The Guardian. He wrote: “The film moseys blankly along and, aside from some mildly diverting moments, it spends 180 keeping you guessing as to when and whether it is going to be interesting.”
In a more positive review, however, The Telegraph’s Robbie Collin awarded it four stars and wrote: “The film is earnest yet hopeful, with crisply drawn characters – but perhaps its full grandeur won’t be fully realised until part two.”
Despite the mostly negative reviews, the film did receive a lengthy, seven-minute standing ovation at Cannes, leaving Costner visibly emotional.
Recently, Costner also hit back at critics who complained about the representation of Native Americans in the film.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 is now in cinemas. Chapter 2 will be released on August 16.
