The frontier is starting to look a little crowded! The Hollywood Reporter writes that Thomas Haden Church has joined Kevin Costner’s upcoming western Horizon. The Academy Award-nominated actor is joining the previously announced cast of Costner, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Luke Wilson, and Jamie Campbell Bower.
Church was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Alexander Payne’s Sideways. He also had a starring role on the 90s sitcom Wings. But, modern audiences likely know him best for playing the classic Spider-Man villain Sandman in Spider-Man 3 and again in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Horizon will be Church’s return to the Western genre after starring in the critically acclaimed miniseries Broken Trial with Robert Duvall. His other notable roles include Easy A, Peanut Putter Falcon, Divorce, and John Carter. He can soon be seen in the Peacock adaptation of the Twisted Metal video game series.
Horizon will be an ensemble film that will explore the hardships of those who braved the frontier over fifteen years. The film will use multiple perspectives to depict the different types of people who attempted to make the American West their home, from the often determined and ruthless settlers to the indigenous people who already called the land home. The nature of Church’s character has not been announced.
Costner will be directing the film, his first since Open Range, another western, in 2003. In fact, Horizon only will be Costner’s fourth time in the director’s chair. But, he has more than proven himself as a director, his debut, 1990’s Dances With Wolves, earned him both a Best Director and Best Picture Academy Award.
Additionally, Horizon is said to be a passion project for Costner. He wrote the script with author Jon Baird, with this being the first film either of them have written. Costner is also set to produce the film through his production banner Territory Pictures. Horizon has also been reported to be intended to serve as the first film in a trilogy.
Production on Horizon is set to begin next week in Utah. Stay tuned to Collider for any future updates on the project. Check out the official synopsis for the film below:
Horizon chronicles a multi-faceted, 15-year span of pre- and post-Civil War expansion and settlement of the American West. Experienced through the eyes of many, the epic journey is fraught with peril and intrigue from the constant onslaught of natural elements to the interactions with the Indigenous peoples who lived on the land and the determination and at many times ruthlessness of those who sought to settle it.
