Kevin Costner’s passion project Horizon: An American Saga may have threatened to completely derail the dramatic conclusion to Paramount’s celebrated series Yellowstone (of which, Costner is the leading man), but if the 11-minute standing ovation at Cannes is anything to go by, it might just have been worth it.

For 35 years, Kevin Costner has been planning Horizon: An American Saga, a four-part movie series written, directed by, produced by and starring the Yellowstone leading man.

It follows the years “that preceded and followed the Civil War and the conquest of the American West,” and has been labelled an ambitious Western epic for modern times; a truly American saga that follows the story of America’s unrelenting expansion into the territories of the Wild West.

RELATED: Kevin Costner Looks To New Horizons After Messy Yellowstone Exit

Horizon: An American Saga Cast

Horizon: An American Saga boasts an all-star cast led by the all-American hero Kevin Costner. The actor plays the lead role of Hayes Ellison, a fictional cowboy in America’s Wild West.

Notably, Costner revealed that he had named his son Hayes after the character that he portrays in Horizon and also brought his son into the cast for a small role. Costner is also the director, producer and co-writer.

Costner stars across Sienna Miller (American Sniper, Layer Cake) who plays Frances Kittredge, a widowed homesteader’s wife whose husband falls during a night raid of the Horizon settlement by Apache. Sam Worthington (Avatar) plays First Lt Trent Gephardt, a Unionist leader tasked with the retaliation mission after the Horizon attack; he’s also Miller’s love interest.

Luke Wilson, Giovanni Ribisi, Danny Huston, Abbey Lee and Thomas Haden Church also make up the rest of Horizon’s all-star cast in Costner’s sprawling Western epic that manages to capture the lives of a litany of characters.

Horizon: An American Saga Kevin Costner

Kevin Costner plays the lead role of Hayes Ellison in Horizon: An American Saga, a 35-year passion project that he also directed, wrote and produced.

It’s truly been a labour of love for the Yellowstone star, who publicly walked away from his award-winning role of John Dutton in the celebrated Paramount series to finally make this movie happen.

As you’d expect, Costner’s character gets a lot of screentime, killing a settler in a bloody and ferocious fight and enjoying an on-screen love scene with a younger star.

Horizon: An American Saga Plot

Horizon: An American Saga plot is a four-part Western epic told from the several different perspectives of the American people after the Civil War, looking to rebuild for the future and expand into Native land.

“I think about the promise of America,” Costner said. “There was a promise out here that if you could go, if you were tough enough, if you were mean enough, if you were resourceful enough, if you were lucky enough, you could take what you wanted in America.”

“That promise meant that we stepped on a whole group of people that had been here for thousands of years.”

Horizon: An American Saga is a graphic depiction of the expansion of modern America that spans 15 years, following the stories of people trying to rebuild by taking land and resources from the native people that had inhabited the country for thousands of years.

“It’s a beautiful story; it’s a hard story,” Costner revealed to Variety. “It involves women trying to get by in a world that was impossibly tough. They were often [dragged] out to these places because that’s where the men wanted to go; women were following their men.”

“They didn’t ask to be in these territories that were unsettled and dangerous, and life wasn’t easy. I’ve chosen to make sure that was really obvious, that that wasn’t easy, and how vulnerable people were.”

Horizon: An American Saga Trailer

Horizon: An American Saga true story

Horizon: An American Saga is not based on a true story, but closely follows the years that preceded the end of the American Civil War after 1865 and the lives of the people as they look to rebuild.

Kevin Costner’s Western epic explores the tumultuous period of modern American expansion in the years that followed the war; a bloody time marked by the relentless push of modern Americans into Native American territories, driven by greed and power.

Whilst details are still kept tightly under wraps, Horizon: An American Saga will likely present the narratives against the backdrop of true historical events of the time, such as the Indian Removal Act, the Trail of Tears, and the many conflicts between Americans and Natives that stripped Native Americans of their land and rights.

Horizon: An American Saga Cannes Film Festival

When the first instalment of the four-part movie series premiered at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival, Costner received an 11-minute standing ovation from the crowd, holding back the tears as chants of “Kevin! Kevin! Kevin!” echoed through the theatre.

“I’m sorry you had to clap that long for me to understand that I should speak,” Costner jokes during his speech. “Such good people. Such a good moment, not just for me, but for the actors that came with me, for people who believed in me who continued to work. It’s a funny business, and I’m so glad I found it. There’s no place like here. I’ll never forget this — either will my children.”

Horizon: An American Saga run time

Horizon: An American Saga is the first film in a four-part theatrical release and runs for 3 hours and 1 minute.

Horizon: An American Saga Release Date Australia

Horizon: An American Saga premiered at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival and will be released in cinemas in Australia on 28 June 2024.