Despite underwhelming at the box office in its opening weekend, Horizon: An American Saga star Michael Rooker is still defending the Western.
While there were some speculation that director/star Kevin Costner’s epic Western saga would flop at the box office, fans certainly didn’t flock to theaters on opening weekend.
The three-hour film – the first in a four-film saga – debuted in third place with a lowly $11 million, with the second installment arriving on August 16.
Rooker, who plays Sgt. Major Thomas Riordan in the film, told TMZ that the film – the first Costner has directed since 2003’s Open Range – is ‘real cinema.’
‘It’s real cinema, folks, so be prepared. We ain’t used to that s**t. We’re used to 90-minute movies, everything’s 90 minutes, oh come on, give me a break, get over that s**t,’ Rooker began.
Despite underwhelming at the box office in its opening weekend, Horizon: An American Saga star Michael Rooker is still defending the Western.
Rooker, who plays Sgt. Major Thomas Riordan in the film, told TMZ that the film – the first Costner has directed since 2003’s Open Range – is ‘real cinema.’
‘You know, let’s watch a movie that actually tells a story, where you learn about the people and you grow to like them or hate them, and it’s not fast cut-cut-cut,’ he added.
When asked if he thinks modern movie audiences are ‘TikTokified a bit,’ preferring tiny bite-sized videos to long-form storytelling, Rooker agreed.
‘Totally they are, yeah of course they are, you gotta get over that crap, come on. Yeah they’ve gotta learn what it’s like to watch real cinema’ Rooker insisted.
When asked about the scope of the project that will ultimately span four films, Rooker admitted it was, ‘crazy,’ adding he’s, ‘never done anything like that.’
When the interviewer mentioned that Costner made this movie but fans won’t see him in Yellowstone again, Rooker said he just had to, ‘move on,’ which he was familiar with.
‘That’s what we do. We’re actors. We move on. We do The Walking Dead. I get killed off. I don’t know why. I don’t know how to write for the character, so I move on,’ Rooker said.
Rooker added that Costner, ‘is brilliant in this, he’s a brilliant director and he has the ability to pick absolutely the cream of the crop.’
He added one last message for fans telling them, ‘Stop hanging around. Go see the movie. You’ll enjoy it. Go to the bathroom before you go in.’
‘You know, let’s watch a movie that actually tells a story, where you learn about the people and you grow to like them or hate them, and it’s not fast cut-cut-cut,’ he added
Rooker added that Costner, ‘is brilliant in this, he’s a brilliant director and he has the ability to pick absolutely the cream of the crop’
The film earned a rather mild reception from critics as well, with just a 40% rating from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes
The film earned a rather mild reception from critics as well, with just a 40% rating from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
The second chapter in this saga will debut in theaters August, with the filmmaker planning two more films.
Production has already started in the third film, with the fourth and final film in development, though it’s unclear when that may start filming.
However if the second chapter bombs as well, there may be pressure to pull the plug entirely, though it remains to be seen if that will be the case.
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