Horizon: An American Saga
film series directed by Kevin Costner
Horizon: An American Saga is a series of four planned American epic Western films. It is directed, co-written, produced by, and starring Kevin Costner, from a script he co-wrote with Jon Baird and based on an original story co-written by Costner, Baird, and Mark Kasdan. The plot centers on fictional characters and takes place in pre- and post-Civil War America, and details the exploration of the American West. Depicting a twelve-year span, the films feature an ensemble cast portraying various characters and their experiences pioneering into new territory from their homes.
Development
Kevin Costner began developing the script for the film series in 1988, which he based on his belief that its viewers should be inspired by the true history of America in the Old West. Costner continued to develop the script from originally co-starring two lead actors to featuring an ensemble cast. Costner explained that by further expanding the script into a series of four films, he wanted accurately to depict a 12-year history of the United States, including the impact of the American Civil War and drawing an audience into the cinema. Costner explained that the plot depicts the experiences of Native Americans, when migrant colonists moved into their territory with a justification that they had paid European salesmen for the land.
In 2003, Costner negotiated production with The Walt Disney Company. During pre-production he discovered that the studio lacked his required production budget, so he abandoned Disney.
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Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q113685785. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1988 and 2003.
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This entry incorporates text from “Horizon: An American Saga” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.