Kevin Costner's self-financed movie was a box-office flop. Experts say he's 'going to lose a lot of money.'

• Kevin Costner invested $38 million of his own money into "Horizon," plus marketing costs.
• He needs the movie to make roughly $65 million domestically to break even.
• Presales and a favorable Warner Bros. deal could help recoup costs despite challenges.

With Kevin Costner's epic three-hour Western "Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1" only making $11 million its opening weekend in theaters, it's going to be a long road for the Oscar winner to recoup the money he put into it.

Costner, who directed, produced, and stars in the project and is one of its main financiers, had been developing the multi-part saga set in the American West for decades.