Kevin Costner Jokes about Blocking Cannes Yachts to Finance ‘Horizon’ Films

US director Kevin Costner attends the press conference for "Horizon: An American Saga" during the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, France, 20 May 2024. (Getty Images)

16:44-20 May 2024 AD ـ 13 Thul-Qi’dah 1445 AH

Kevin Costner Jokes about Blocking Cannes Yachts to Finance ‘Horizon’ Films

US director Kevin Costner attends the press conference for "Horizon: An American Saga" during the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, France, 20 May 2024. (Getty Images)

Kevin Costner joked at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday that he was ready to blockade rich people on their yachts unless they gave him money to finance his planned four-part Western series "Horizon: An American Saga."

The Hollywood star has already taken out a mortgage on 10 acres of his waterfront property in California to help fund the film project, which tells of the challenges faced by settlers expanding the American West in the late 1800s. Now, he needs more financial backing for the project.

"If we all went out together into this harbor and we stood in front of one boat. And didn't let those rich people off, and we can tell them, 'Look, you can dress up, you can walk on the red carpet,' you know..." Costner told a packed news conference.

"I have knocked on every boat in Cannes to help me. They say 'Ooh, come have a picture', I say 'No, come get your chequebook out. I want to see. Let's talk money," he added.

The first two parts are complete, with the 181-minute initial chapter premiering out of competition at the festival on Sunday. It will be released in North America and select European locations on June 28, followed by part two on Aug. 16.

Filming on the third chapter began before Costner set out for Cannes.

"This has been so hard. And it's not over yet," he told Reuters in an interview at the festival.

MIXED REVIEWS

Costner will star in, direct, produce and co-write the film series, which covers a 15-year period before and after the 1861-1865 Civil War when white settlers expanded westward in the United States, taking land from American Indians.

Costner's previous credits in Westerns include his Oscar-winning "Dances With Wolves" in 1990 and more recently as the star of the successful five-season TV series "Yellowstone."

"I can't fill every box every time I try to make a movie, but I'm absolutely conscious of what's at stake, and trying to represent people," Costner said at the news conference.

"Horizon," with Sienna Miller, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee and Dale Dickey among the cast, is also heavily oriented towards women, added Costner.

Reviews trended towards the negative, with Britain's The Guardian newspaper calling it "a big vain slog up familiar old west alleys," while another British newspaper, The Telegraph, said it would please those who pine for old-fashioned Westerns.

"Costner may have just invented granddad cinema," read The Telegraph headline.

‘Comeback’ Queen Demi Moore ‘Has Always Been Here,’ Says Director

US actress Demi Moore poses with the Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy award for "The Substance" in the press room during the 82nd annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on January 5, 2025. (AFP)

11:37-7 January 2025 AD ـ 08 Rajab 1446 AH

‘Comeback’ Queen Demi Moore ‘Has Always Been Here,’ Says Director

Demi Moore's Golden Globe best actress win for "The Substance" has, almost overnight, transformed the 1990s megastar into a seemingly unlikely favorite for the Oscars.

In her acceptance speech Sunday, the 62-year-old -- who once generated headlines as much for her love life as for her hit films -- said she had long been dismissed as a "popcorn actress," and had never "won anything as an actor."

But for Coralie Fargeat, the French director who also wrote Moore's new, blood-drenched body horror film, there is nothing surprising about the late-career reappraisal her leading lady is now enjoying.

"It was so moving to see Demi on that stage," Fargeat told AFP, the morning after Moore's big win.

The movie allowed audiences "to see who she is as an actress, and not project any more the stereotype that if you're beautiful, you can't be a good actress."

"It is being called a comeback. But she has always been here," Fargeat added.

Society's obsession with pigeonholing and pinning expiration dates on women is the core premise of "The Substance."

In the film, globally distributed by MUBI, Moore's character Elisabeth is a fading movie star, who is abruptly fired from her hit TV fitness show as she turns 50.

Out of desperation, she injects herself with a mysterious serum which allows her to live in a younger version of her body -- as long as she returns to her older form every week.

Inevitably, the allure of remaining young proves too strong, especially after Elisabeth's stunningly youthful alter ego is catapulted to fame by creepy male executives.

- 'Dream' -

Fargeat had long been a fan of Moore's acting work, which included hits like "Indecent Proposal" and "Ghost," as well as more divisive fare like "G.I. Jane."

"I could like or not like the movies, but I think she always delivered pretty great performances," said the director.

But Moore's real-life career also incarnated "this iconic star" represented by her character in "The Substance."

"Someone who has been totally valued for this dream, this fake promise that if you're young, beautiful, you're going to be happy and successful," said Fargeat.

"And when this goes away, it's like all your life is going away."

Even so, Moore's pitch-perfect casting as Elisabeth nearly did not happen.

Fargeat at first assumed Moore would not be interested in a role requiring countless, grotesque scenes of gore and decay.

But the director picked up a copy of Moore's 2019 memoir "Inside Out," which laid bare the actor's battles with ageism and misogyny, as well as addiction, abuse and very public divorces.

"When I read her book, I really saw that she was ready to take the level of risk that the movie requested," said Fargeat.

"The film is really about women's bodies. I wanted to tell my stories [in] the flesh," recalled Fargeat.

Fargeat also admits she was a demanding and meticulous director on set, requiring "a lot of takes."

Moore has spoken about losing 20 pounds (nine kilos) and contracting shingles due to the intense strain of filming, while co-star Margaret Qualley described being in the movie's prosthetic suits as "torture" that triggered panic attacks.

"If the lead performance isn't ready to go that far, the whole movie falls apart," said Fargeat.

Moore "took the risk to follow the vision of the movie... that's very, very brave and courageous," she said.

- Oscars race -

With the Globes win, more attention will come to "The Substance" -- both from wider audiences, and Oscars voters, who are picking their final nominees on ballots due this week.

Fargeat herself could earn nods for best director and best original screenplay, and "The Substance" is tipped by many pundits to make the best picture list.

But few would now bet against Moore for best actress.

"From the beginning, I believed that this can happen," said Fargeat. "That's what cinema is about -- creating things that people are not expecting."

"I'm just immensely proud to have created this part."

Kevin Costner Jokes about Blocking Cannes Yachts to Finance ‘Horizon’ Films

Kevin Costner Jokes about Blocking Cannes Yachts to Finance ‘Horizon’ Films

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‘Comeback’ Queen Demi Moore ‘Has Always Been Here,’ Says Director

‘Comeback’ Queen Demi Moore ‘Has Always Been Here,’ Says Director

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