Taylor Sheridan’s new Western show can act as a replacement for Yellowstone, and already sounds better than Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga.

Taylor Sheridan’s new Western project Empire of the Summer Moon already sounds even more exciting and interesting than Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga even though there aren’t many details available yet. Details about the story for Horizon: An American Saga are still limited, but it is clear that it will lean heavily on many tropes of traditional American Western dramas. Kevin Costner’s involvement makes it a seemingly obvious replacement for Yellowstone, but the latest project from Taylor Sheridan will do an even better job of replacing the popular drama.

Sheridan will write and direct the adaptation of S.C. Gwynne’s book Empire of the Summer Moon, which chronicles 40 years of the struggle between American frontier settlers and the Comanche tribe. The Comanche played a major role in how the American West was settled, as it was their fierce warriors that stopped the Spanish from advancing north out of Mexico and the French from getting any farther west than Louisiana. It remains to be seen if Sheridan’s adaptation will be in television or movie format, but it seems like a far more interesting project than Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga.

Sheridan’s Empire Of The Summer Moon Sounds Better Than Kevin Costner’s Horizon

The new project will focus on the Native American perspective of the Old West.

Kevin Costner’s new Western is somewhat of a dice roll on whether modern audiences will be receptive to another traditional Western, and Horizon‘s unconventional release strategy amplifies the risk. The traditional nature of the saga is part of the reason why Empire of the Summer Moon sounds more interesting. The adaptation will focus largely on the perspective of the Comanche tribe as opposed to the perspective of American frontier settlers.

Per Deadline, Sheridan has always held the most noteworthy Comanche leader, Quanah, in high regard. Quanah even has a direct connection to the real-life Four Sixes ranch, which Sheridan runs. His Yellowstone spinoff 6666 will be set on the ranch, which Quanah famously chose the location for back in the 1800s. It seems safe to assume that, regardless of whether the Empire of the Summer Moon adaptation is a television show or a movie, it will center around Quanah. A legendary real-life Native American leader is a far more interesting hero than Kevin Costner’s character in Horizon: An American Saga.

Sheridan & Costner’s Yellowstone Replacements Are Natural Rivals

Differing viewpoints from the same time period will draw comparisons.

Empire of the Summer Moon will naturally clash with Horizon: An American Saga largely due to the conflicting viewpoints of the same time period that they will cover. Horizon: An American Saga will focus on the American settlers as they push west across the plains of America, and it’s a safe bet that they will encounter the Comanche on their journey. Empire of the Summer Moon has the opportunity to show the direct opposite side of the conflict, and depict the Comanche as warriors defending their homeland, as opposed to the typically antagonistic role they occupy in traditional westerns.

There will also be comparisons between Horizon: An American Saga and Empire of the Summer Moon due to the men behind the two projects. Costner and Sheridan have been at odds ever since Costner’s ignominious exit from Yellowstone, which was a joint venture between Costner and Sheridan. Empire and Horizon will represent the diverging paths that the two creators took, which will draw obvious side-by-side scrutiny given their past conflict.

Kevin Costner’s Horizon Project Is Already Looking Risky

The later chapters of the saga are far from a guarantee to be made.

Costner’s release plan for Horizon: An American Saga, which will see the saga’s first two parts released just two months apart, is already a risky proposition. If audiences are not receptive to the first part, there will likely be an extremely low turnout for the second part with the poor reception fresh in the audience’s mind. Costner has largely funded his passion project independently, and is still seeking funding for the potential third and fourth chapters in his Western epic.

If the first two parts of Horizon are failures at the box office, it will be extremely difficult for Costner to find external funding for the rest of the saga. That could mean the project remains unfinished, a possibility that could even impact the performance of the first two movies. Empire of the Summer Moon, on the other hand, should find an entirely receptive audience given the outstanding box office and critical success of the Native American-focused epic Killers of the Flower Moon. Ultimately, Horizon: An American Saga seems like a far riskier prospect than Empire of the Summer Moon.