Kevin Costner’s Western Epic ‘Horizon, an American Saga’ Will Premiere at Cannes 

Kevin Costner arrives at the 81st Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 7, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)
Kevin Costner arrives at the 81st Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 7, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)
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Kevin Costner’s Western Epic ‘Horizon, an American Saga’ Will Premiere at Cannes 

Kevin Costner arrives at the 81st Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 7, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)
Kevin Costner arrives at the 81st Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 7, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)

Kevin Costner’s multi-episode epic “Horizon, An American Saga” will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next month, festival organizers announced Monday.

The first chapter of “Horizon” will debut at the French film festival on May 19, giving the world its first glimpse of Costner’s ambitious Western epic. The first two parts of “Horizon” are set to open in quick succession this summer, with Warner Bros. releasing chapter one in theaters June 28 and the second installment on Aug. 16.

“It’s been 20 years since I’ve had the pleasure of being on the Croisette,” Costner said in a statement. “I’ve been waiting for the right time to return and I’m proud to say that this time has come.”

“The French have always supported films and believed deeply in filmmaking,” added Costner. “Just as I believe deeply in my film.”

“Horizon,” which will screen out of competition at Cannes, is directed by Costner and stars him, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington and Jena Malone.

The 77th Cannes Film Festival runs May 14-25. George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” also from Warner Bros., was recently announced as another high-profile premiere at Cannes. The full lineup will be announced Thursday.



UK Blues Legend John Mayall Dead at 90 

English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
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UK Blues Legend John Mayall Dead at 90 

English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)

John Mayall, the British blues pioneer whose 1960s music collective the Bluesbreakers helped usher in a fertile period of rock and brought guitarists like Eric Clapton to prominence, has died at 90, his family said Tuesday.

Mayall, a singer and multi-instrumentalist who was dubbed "the godfather of British blues," and whose open-door arrangement saw some of the greats in the genre hone their craft with him and his band, "passed away peacefully in his California home" on Monday, according to a statement posted on his Facebook page.

It did not state a cause of death.

"Health issues that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of this world's greatest road warriors," it said. "John Mayall gave us 90 years of tireless efforts to educate, inspire and entertain."

Mayall's influence on 1960s rock and beyond is enormous. Members of the Bluesbreakers eventually went on to join or form groups including Cream, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and many more.

At age 30, Mayall moved to London from northern England in 1963. Sensing revolution in the air, he gave up his profession as a graphic designer to embrace a career in blues, the musical style born in Black America.

He teamed up with a series of young guitarists including Clapton, Peter Green, later of Fleetwood Mac, and Mick Taylor who helped form the Rolling Stones.

In the Bluesbreakers' debut album in 1966, "Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton," John Mayall enthralled music aficionados with a melding of soulful rock and gutsy, guitar-driven American blues featuring covers of tunes by Robert Johnson, Otis Rush and Ray Charles.

The blues music he was playing in British venues was "a novelty for white England," he told AFP in 1997.

That album was a hit, catapulting Clapton to stardom and bringing a wave of popularity to a more raw and personal blues music.

Mayall moved to California in 1968 and toured America extensively in 1972.

He recorded a number of landmark albums in the 1960s including "Crusade," "A Hard Road," and "Blues From Laurel Canyon." Dozens more followed in the 1970s and up to his latest, "The Sun Is Shining Down," in 2022.

Mayall was awarded an OBE, an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in 2005.