Kevin Costner‘s Waterworld remains one of the actor’s most infamous movies, and it connects in some notable ways to his more recent project. In the mid-1990s, Costner was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, establishing himself with his Oscar-winning Dances with Wolves and his beloved baseball movies, Field of Dreams and Bull Durham.

Costner was also establishing himself as one of the action stars of the decade, including playing Robin Hood in the blockbuster adventure Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Waterworld was meant to be the next step in that direction, a mᴀssive blockbuster that was touted as the most expensive movie ever made at the time.

Waterworld ended up grossing $264.2 million on a $175 million budget, and has since carried the reputation of being a mᴀssive financial disappointment (via Box Office Mojo). As the film now celebrates its 30th anniversary, there is another movie from Costner’s career that has earned a similar reputation.

How Kevin Costner’s Horizon Is Reminiscent Of Waterworld Almost 30 Years Earlier

Horizon’s Financial Failures Are Reflective Of Waterworld’s Controversy

The perception of Waterworld as a mᴀssive flop was certainly damaging to Kevin Costner’s movie star status at the time, but it did nothing to kill his ambition. Decades after Waterworld, Costner took on another risky project with his epic Western saga, Horizon: An American Saga. The project was a proposed franchise with at least four movies planned.

Costner’s Western projects had been a big part of his career, so news of his return to the genre was exciting. However, like the publicity around Waterworld‘s mᴀssive budget, the conversation around Horizon quickly became focused on whether it was a Hollywood folly before anyone had even seen it.

With Costner planning on filming the movies back-to-back and releasing them in theaters only months apart, many began to predict that the actor and filmmaker was being too ambitious with the undertaking and was destined to fail. Eventually, Horizon: Part 1 was released to disappointing numbers, and the release plan for the other movies was scrapped.

There is still no confirmation on how and when the rest of the Horizon franchise, most of which has already been filmed, will come out. However, the sequels have an uphill battle as the reputation surrounding the movie is all to do with the financial failure, mirroring the public perception that has followed Waterworld all these years.

Horizon: An American Saga Was A Far Bigger Gamble For Kevin Costner Personally

Kevin Costner Spent $38 Million Of His Own Money On Horizon

The perception around Horizon and Waterworld is that they were both disappointing failures in Kevin Costner’s career, but the sad reality is that Horizon was much worse for the actor. While Costner’s position as a Hollywood superstar was certainly on the line with Waterworld, he gambled his own money to make Horizon happen.

Costner himself estimates that he personally invested $38 million into his Horizon project, even putting a loan on his house in order to get the money (via Variety). Unfortunately, Horizon‘s entire box office total was just over $38 million, all but guaranteeing Costner will lose a substantial amount on the project (via Box Office Mojo).

Despite the perception, Waterworld was not the disaster some have labeled it as. It didn’t recoup its budget in theaters, but it was eventually profitable thanks to home video and other sales. Unfortunately, the conversations around Horizon‘s financial failures are not overblown, and the prospect of any profit seems impossible.

While the reviews for Horizon were mixed, with 51% on Rotten Tomatoes, it is Costner’s personal stakes in the movie that have presented it in a different light compared to Waterworld. With its mᴀssive budget and silly premise, Waterworld was criticized long before it hit theaters for being an overblown blockbuster.

Many predicted that Horizon would fail financially, but Costner’s personal investment in seeing this ambitious pᴀssion project through was seen as endearing for many movie lovers. Even those who didn’t care for the movie seem to be rooting for Kevin Costner to complete his franchise, however unlikely that seems now.