Horizon rating: How grown-up is Kevin Costner's new four-film Western saga?

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Kevin Costner’s decades-long quest to bring Horizon: An American Saga to cinemas is about to come to fruition, but that doesn’t mean the film is ready for everyone to see it. Just like any other movie, it has had to be certified by the MPAA, but what is Horizon’s rating and what sort of content should fans be aware of before they view it?

Like many Westerns, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 features plenty of sweeping vistas and epic scenery, but it also includes enough violence to earn the film an adult rating from the MPAA. The organization has confirmed that Horizon is rated R for “Some Nudity and Sexuality” and “Violence.” We’re not surprised by the violence, considering that it is a Western set in the Old West during the Civil War, but the addition of nudity feels a bit out of character for a film that critics have described as “granddad cinema.”

The R rating for Horizon: An American Saga is a big gamble for the studio, but it is an even bigger gamble for Kevin Costner himself, who has reportedly put up around $38 million of his own money to help fund the project. R-rated films typically bring in less money than PG or PG-13 movies simply because they have a smaller pool of potential viewers at the cinema. However, the actor seems determined to finish the films regardless of the cost, with Chapter 2 out later this year and Chapter 3 currently in production.

Horizon: An American Saga is rated R for violence and some nudity and sexuality.

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