Kevin Costner publicly addressed the lackluster earnings from the first installment of his Western-themed film franchise, “Horizon,” claiming that even though the first film flopped and the second was delayed, he’s still counting on the movie standing “the test of time.”

The 69-year-old actor spoke with reporters at the 2024 Venice Film Festival over the weekend, admitting that “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1” didn’t perform well at the box office. “It didn’t have overwhelming success,” he said, per Variety.

“I’ve had a lot of movies that way, that have stood the test of time,” Costner added.

Originally, the second installment in the “Horizon” series was slated to come out just six weeks after the first one did, which he called a “studio decision.” He said the studio was also the reason for the release being delayed.

“For me, it fell back into my plan, which was I always wanted to come out with movies about five-six months apart. And that was going to allow me to come to Venice,” Costner said, per the outlet. “I would have never come to Venice, because they won’t show the film here if it was already out.”

“Part One” made just over $29 million in North America against an estimated production budget of $100 million.

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The actor said he’s still planning to forge ahead with making “Horizon” a four-part film series despite negative reviews and poor earnings.

“Sometimes when things don’t come to us easily, we want to just step away. But there’s something in me that only increases my desire when something is not working,” Costner said. “It’s a story, it’s a piece of entertainment that I think can stand the test of time. When I feel rejection, unlike anybody else, when I open my eyes from my disappointment, my desire is only increased.”

He said in terms of making the third movie, he wants to “hurry and not let the rock fall back downhill, I gotta go put my hands on it again and start to push it up.”

The “Dances with Wolves” actor also asserted that the movies don’t take sides in terms of politics, mentioning how “it’s not a message politically to anyone.”

“‘Horizon’ is not a message to my country, it’s a reminder to my country of how difficult it was that people made this journey,” he said, per Variety.