Despite failing to do well at the box office in its opening weekend, Horizon: An American Saga star Michael Rooker continues to champion the Western.
While there was some speculation that director/star Kevin Costner’s epic Western saga would be a box office flop, fans certainly didn’t flock to theaters on opening weekend.
The three-hour film (the first in a four-film series) opened in third place with a modest $11 million, and the second installment is due out August 16.
Rooker, who plays Sergeant Major Thomas Riordan in the film, said TMZ that the film – Costner’s first directing since 2003’s Open Range – is “real cinema.”
“This is real cinema, folks, so brace yourselves. We’re not used to that shit. We’re used to 90-minute movies, everything’s 90 minutes long, oh come on, give me a break, get over that shit,” Rooker began.
Despite failing to do well at the box office in its opening weekend, Horizon: An American Saga star Michael Rooker continues to champion the Western.
Rooker, who plays Sergeant Major Thomas Riordan in the film, told TMZ that the movie (Costner’s first to direct since 2003’s Open Range) is “real cinema.”
“You know, let’s see a movie that actually tells a story, where you learn about people and you start to like them or hate them, and it’s not a quick cut, cut, cut,” he added.
Asked if he thinks modern movie audiences are “a little TikTokified,” preferring bite-sized videos to long-form narratives, Rooker agreed.
“Of course they do, of course they do, they have to get over that shit, come on. Yeah, they have to learn what it’s like to watch real movies,” Rooker insisted.
Asked about the scope of the project that will ultimately span four films, Rooker admitted it was “crazy” and added that he’d “never done anything like this.”
When the interviewer mentioned that Costner made this film but fans wouldn’t see him again in Yellowstone, Rooker said he just had to “move on,” something he was familiar with.
“That’s what we do. We’re actors. We just keep going. We do The Walking Dead. They kill me off. I don’t know why. I don’t know how to write for the character, so I just keep going,” Rooker said.
Rooker added that Costner “is brilliant at this, he’s a brilliant director and he has the ability to pick absolutely the best of the best.”
He added a final message for fans: “Stop wasting your time. Go watch the movie. You’ll enjoy it. Go to the bathroom before you go in.”
“You know, let’s see a movie that actually tells a story, where you learn about people and you start to like them or hate them, and it’s not a quick cut,” he added.
Rooker added that Costner “is brilliant at this, he’s a brilliant director and he has the ability to pick absolutely the best of the best.”
The film also received a fairly moderate reception from critics, with only a 40% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film also received a fairly moderate reception from critics, with just a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The second chapter of this saga will debut in theaters in August, and the filmmaker has two more films planned.
Production on the third film has already begun, and the fourth and final film is in development, though it is unclear when filming will begin.
However, if the second chapter also fails, there may be pressure to cancel it altogether, although it remains to be seen whether that will be the case.