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“That’s the Way It Should Be”: Kevin Costner’s Tearful Cannes Speech After the Horizon Premiere (May 2024)

At the May 19, 2024 Cannes premiere of Horizon: An American Saga, Kevin Costner told the audience the film was theirs now. Here is what he said and how the ovation was reported.
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On May 19, 2024, Kevin Costner stood at the 77th Festival de Cannes after the world premiere of the first part of Horizon: An American Saga, received a long standing ovation, and told the audience that the film now belonged to them. Reports from the night describe him as tearful or overcome. His line, “I made this – it’s not mine anymore, it’s yours,” is the source of the phrase “that’s the way it should be.”

What Costner said on stage

Costner opened with a joke about the applause. As reported by Fox News, he said: “I’m sorry you had to clap that long for me to understand that I should speak.” He then thanked the audience, the actors who had come to Cannes with him, and the people who believed in the project and kept working on it over the years.

The central passage of his remarks, as reproduced in Fox News’ contemporaneous report, runs as follows:

“I made this – it’s not mine anymore, it’s yours. I knew that the minute this was over, and that’s the way it should be. I think movies aren’t about their opening weekends, they’re about their life… about how many times you’re willing to share them, and I hope that you do share this movie with your sweethearts, with your children. I feel so lucky, I feel so blessed. And, there’s three more.”

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The last line refers to the later parts of the saga. Cannes’ official announcement said the story would be released as four episodes over several months. This article covers the Cannes presentation only and does not track the release dates of the remaining parts.

How long the standing ovation lasted

Reports differ on the length of the ovation, so attribute the figure to the outlet that gave it rather than treating it as a timed measurement.

Source Date Ovation length as reported Notes
Fox News May 19, 2024 Nearly ten minutes Describes Costner as tearful; quotes the “that’s the way it should be” passage in full
Fox Business May 20, 2024 Ten minutes Includes the Cannes remarks; no independent timing is published alongside the figure

Neither outlet is described in the sources as having timed the applause independently, so “nearly ten minutes” is the most defensible way to repeat the figure.

What Horizon: An American Saga is

The film is a scripted, multi-episode Western, not a documentary, although it deals with a real historical period. The Cannes film record describes it as tracing the expansion and settlement of the American West before and after the Civil War, with interwoven stories of settlers trying to establish themselves and Native Americans whose lands were being colonized.

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The official Cannes record lists the following details for the first part:

  • Status at Cannes: world premiere, out of competition, on May 19, 2024.
  • Runtime: 181 minutes, per the Cannes film record.
  • Production year: 2023, per the Cannes film record.
  • Directing and writing: Kevin Costner is listed as director and screenwriter, with Jon Baird also credited as screenwriter. Costner also acts in the film.
  • Cast: Kevin Costner as Hayes, Sienna Miller as Frances, Abbey Lee as Marigold, Isabelle Fuhrman as Diamond, Jena Malone as Ellen, and Hayes Costner as Nathaniel. Sam Worthington and Luke Wilson are also listed among other cast members.

The “story that began 35 years ago” line

Before the screening, the festival’s announcement quoted Costner on the project’s history: “Horizon, An American Saga is a story that began 35 years ago, and I can’t think of a better place than Cannes to reveal to the world the result of such a wonderful adventure.” That context explains why his thanks in Cannes focused on people who had stayed with the film for so long.

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Reading the remarks in context

The speech is short, and most of its meaning comes from the sequence. Costner first acknowledges the length of the applause, then hands the film over to the audience, and only then turns to the idea that a movie’s value is measured by how often it is watched and shared, not by its first weekend. The phrase “that’s the way it should be” is his response to having made something that no longer depends on him once it is seen.

For readers who came to this story through the title alone, the key distinctions are these: the event was a May 2024 festival premiere, the ovation length is an outlet-reported figure, and the emotional description comes from press accounts rather than a published transcript from the festival. Questions about the film’s later release, box office, or critical reception fall outside the sources behind this article.

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