Who’s ready to cut a long rug with one of Kevin Costner‘s classic dramas? With his follow-up to Horizon: An American Saga still in the wind, Kevin Costner is busy prepping a near-four-hour Director’s Cut of his 1990 Western Dances With Wolves, which will launch at the upcoming Locarno Film Festival. The screening takes place on August 7 on the massive screen of the Swiss lakeside fest’s elaborate outdoor Piazza Grande venue as part of its Histoire(s) du Cinema program.
What’s included in the Dances With Wolves Director’s Cut?
In Dances With Wolves, a lieutenant assigned to a remote Civil War outpost (Costner) starts questioning his purpose after making contact with a neighboring Sioux settlement. The period drama also stars Mary McDonnell and the late and great Graham Greene as Stands With a Fist and Kicking Bird, respectively. According to reports, Costner’s Director’s Cut of Dances With Wolves clocks in at nearly four hours, with over fifty minutes of additional footage. It was originally intended for the film’s television release, but was later issued on DVD/Blu-Ray. It’s not actually clear if this restored version is just the extended cut, as it’s being labelled a “director’s cut,” whereas the extended version was never labelled as such. It could be that Costner has created a new version.
Per Variety, restoration of the new cut is a collaboration between Zurich-based laboratory Cinegrell and the Locarno Film Festival through its Locarno Heritage project. Additionally, K5 International handles the international sales.
“Costner’s western epic, which won seven Academy Awards, including best picture and best director, helped redefine the western at the turn of the 1990s and drew global attention to the historical plight of Indigenous peoples on the American continent,” the Locarno fest said in a statement.
Where is Costner’s Horizon: Chapter 2?
Meanwhile, Costner’s Horizon sequel, Horizon: Chapter 2, is “all quiet of the Western front” these days. The first installment of Costner’s passion project bombed in theaters, earning only $29 million against a budget that, before marketing, was at least $50 million. At the time, Costner worked hard to promote the film, but many outlets were busy asking questions about the filmmaker’s unceremonious exit from Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone series. According to JoBlo’s Chris Bumbray, “Horizon was a big enough flop that the sequel, initially set for an August 2024 release, never came out. The rumor has always been that WB, which was only the distributor of the films, wasn’t footing the sequel’s marketing budget, and that Costner opted to pull the movie in hopes that Horizon would eventually find its audience on streaming and lead to a theatrical release.”
Will we ever see Horizon: Chapter 2? Chris has theories, though the project’s future remains uncertain and difficult to gauge. In the meantime, fans of Costner’s work can look forward to his extended edition of Dances With Wolves, coming to the Locarno Film Festival on August 7.
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