'It's real cinema': Horizon star Michael Rooker defends Kevin Costner's movie flop

Michael Rooker has defended ‘Horizon’ after the film's poor box office opening.

The 69-year-old actor plays Sgt. Major Thomas Riordan in Kevin Costner's Western epic 'Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1' and has blamed the underwhelming audience response to the three-hour-long picture on the lack of appreciation that viewers have for "real cinema".

Rooker told TMZ: "It’s real cinema, folks. Be prepared. We ain’t used to that s***.

"We’re used to 90 minute movies. Everything is 90 minutes. Give me a break. Get over that s***.

"Let’s watch a movie that actually tells a story where you learn about the people and grow to like them or hate them. It’s not all fast and cut, cut cut."

The 'Guardians of the Galaxy' actor also agreed with the theory that audiences have become "TikTok-ified" by watching short clips on the social media platform.

He said: "Totally they are. Of course they are. They got to get over that c***. They got to learn how to watch real cinema, please.

"Stop hanging, go see the movie. You’ll enjoy it. Go to the bathroom before you go in."

The four-part saga is a passion project for Costner – who has self-financed the pictures – and Michael has praised the star's ability behind the camera.

The 'Walking Dead' actor said: "He is brilliant in this, he's a brilliant director and he has the ability to pick absolutely the cream of the crop."

Kevin claimed that he wasn't disheartened by the box office figures as the movie resembled what he hoped for it to look like.

He told Entertainment Weekly: "I've lived with movies and what happens to them on their opening weekend.

"If we put so much pressure on that, we're bound to be disappointed. I'm really happy that 'Horizon' looks like what it's supposed to look like, and that's the way it'll look for the rest of its life. And that's really important to me in this process."