Kevin Costner’s second installment of his multi-part epic won’t be saddling up for its August theatrical release date as previously planned. The actor’s production company, Territory Pictures, alongside distributor New Line Cinema decided to pull the western movie from the calendar after the first film’s underperformance at the box office in June, according to . Originally set for an Aug.
16 release, of Costner’s take on westward expansion during the Civil War era will remain on hold, the outlet reported, “in order to give audiences a greater opportunity to discover” , which opened in theaters June 28. While Coster’s epic made a splashy debut at the Cannes Film Festival in May, garnering a , the film earned only $11 million in its opening weekend after receiving from critics. To help finance the pricey saga, starring alongside Costner, the actor and producer mortgaged his beachfront home near Santa Barbara, Calif.
, in the project. That number, however, is much lower than the actual cost of the planned four films, two of which are in various stages of production. alone had a reported , not including publicity and marketing.
Given the cost, box office returns were crucial for the film. But the former star was clear-eyed about what was at stake. “Clearly things are at risk,” Costner previously told .
That said, he added, "I don't want to lose track of what moves me and what I want to do in my life." The Oscar winner added that he wasn’t measuring the succes.